You know how you can hear a song 1,000 times and the 1,001st time you hear it, a line REALLY jumps out at you that hasn't before? That happened to me recently. I love to listen to Casting Crowns when I'm on the treadmill or walking in the Battlefield. (My playlist is called 'Jesus Running Music :) Anyway...some time ago, I was listening to Casting Crown's song "East to West". Of course I've heard the song many times, but this one particular time, a line just resonated in my head! Then today, it happened again. Same song. Same line.
I'm not holding on to You, but You're holding on to me
I started thinking about situations where we hold on to stuff. Since I was walking at the time, one of the first things that came to my mind was exercising. When was the last time you tried to do a pull up, or as we used to call them in the "old days", chin up? You remember those, right? Those horrible things where you hold on to a metal bar above your head and pull your ENTIRE body weight up to where your chin is over that stupid bar, then you drop back down and just hang there until you muster the strength to do it again. UGH!! Just the THOUGHT of those makes me hurt all over! Anyway...back to my illustration. The point is, you have to hold on to that bar. And it doesn't take long for it to really start hurting. Your hands start cramping up, or they start getting sweaty and then start slipping. It's really tough holding on for very long. You eventually have to drop to the ground because you can't keep your grasp any longer.
The other thing that popped into my mind when I was thinking about holding on to stuff, was my kids. You know how when your babies are little and you are out anywhere with them, you have a death grip on their little hands because you don't want them to run off from you and a bad person kidnap them...(surely I wasn't the ONLY one who told my kids that....) anyway. When you are a mom or dad and you have your little one out, say, crossing the street, you have their tiny little hand firmly in yours. No matter how much they wiggle and squirm, your hand is a vice around theirs. There is NO WAY you are going to let them go. You are holding on to them to protect them, and you will do that for as long as is necessary. But here's the thing. Eventually, your hand is going to get tired. You may hold on to that little one's hand for HOURS...but at some point, you are going to HAVE to loosen your grip.
I have several other illustrations running through my head, but you can probably think of some more on your own, so I'll move along to how this ties in to the song lyric.
As hard as we try, with all of our human strength to hold on to things, we just can't do it. That includes "holding on" to God. Friend, can I just tell ya...that is 100%, totally, completely impossible!! We can't do it. But here's the awesome thing... WE DON'T HAVE TO!! He (God) is holding on to us! Woo Hoo!! He's not going to run out of strength, get tired and sweaty, lose his grip. I mean, HELLO...He's GOD!!! We don't have to exhaust ourselves trying to do things that will make Him love us or keep us or help us or take care of us. He's got it.
Let me give you a few examples of how I've seen this in action.
There is a precious young couple at our church who have been in the process for a LONG time now, of adopting a little girl from Peru. This little girl is deaf and she has some other health issues. But God put her into this sweet family's heart as THEIR daughter. The process of adoption has been long and VERY expensive. There have been stumbling blocks, both major and minor thrown in the way. But this wonderful couple has said from the beginning "God's got this." They do not have to worry because they KNOW He's in control. He's holding on to them.
I have a co-worker who got married some time back, thinking the man she married was the will of God for her life. Unfortunately, the man was a liar. I do not know the whole story, but I do know he took advantage of her financially. When the truth about this joker finally came out, my friend was in pretty dire straits financially. She had to pick up a second job. But you know what? I never heard her complain. Sure. It was hard on her. But you know what I heard when I talked to her personally and read on her very public FB posts? I heard her praising God and giving thanks for His protection and provision. She knows God is holding on to her. When she is exhausted from having to work 70 hours a week, she doesn't have to worry about trying to hold on to her "religion". Oh no...Her God is holding on to her.
One of my dearest friends lives in Texas. I haven't seen her in over 7 years, but she was in my life during a time when I really needed her godly influence. We shared lots of laughs and lots of tears during the time she lived down the street from me. When I found out she was moving to Texas, I was devastated. Crushed. I cried for weeks! I could NOT figure out why God would take away the only real friend I had. She has three boys whom I loved like my own kids. The youngest was just a baby when they moved. She knew at the time he had some kind of health issue, but she was struggling to figure out what it was. Over time, she learned that her little boy was non-verbal, autistic. Again, through Facebook (what in the WORLD would we do without social media??) I keep up with her life and her struggles that she faces daily living with an autistic child. I can tell, even from 700 miles away, that she gets tired, emotionally and physically. My heart longs to be able to "give her a break" and take care of that sweet boy for the day. But I can't do that. As I continue to read her posts, I see that even when she is completely exhausted, she rests in the truth that she knows with all her heart. God's got this. He's holding on to her. She doesn't have to worry.
One last one... I have another co-worker. Super sweet, godly lady. I'm not sure of the timeline of the events, but her daughter-in-law was either pregnant and then found out she had cancer, or had cancer and then found out she was pregnant. Can't remember. Either way, it was NOT a good situation. She made it to 29 weeks, and they had to take the baby. NOW LISTEN TO ME HERE!! She did NOT abort the baby. OH NO!!! She gave birth to the baby!!! At 29 weeks!!!! This is the part that gives me chills about this story. They were thinking the baby would be a pound or so...but that precious little bundle of life was THREE POUNDS!!! And he was absolutely perfect!! I remember my friend telling me that story standing in the hall at school. I had chills all over and tears in my eyes! And our country says it's OK to kill babies at this stage of gestation...UGH! Sorry...I don't need to get on THAT soap box. That's for another blog I guess. Anyway...that precious baby boy had to stay in the hospital, obviously, for a LONG time. And while he was in the hospital, his sweet mama (whom I have never met) was being treated for cancer. I kept up with his progress through Facebook. He grew and grew and developed in every way he should. But you know the thing that those FB posts pointed out to me? They screamed "God's got this!" That sweet family never wavered from their faith that the God of the universe had that tiny little life square in the palm of His hand, and He was NOT letting him go! God was holding on to that teeny baby and his mama as she fought that cancer. They didn't have to worry about trying to find the energy or strength to hold on to Him!
I don't know about you, but that is just SO comforting to me!! I've had some JUNK go on in my life (as we all have had) and looking back on those times, it is plain as day that God was there, holding on to me. There is no way I would have made it through otherwise. You know the saying "If you aren't in the middle of a trial or storm, get ready because you're about to go through one." Take heart my friends. You don't have to worry about holding on to God...He's got this!!
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