Hold on for dear life

Hold on for dear life.  When I hear that phrase I think of riding a roller coaster and holding on tightly.  However, I do not ride roller coasters so I don't have that experience to draw off of for sure.  I can identify with another example of holding on for dear life.  I was blessed with two girls who refused to be left in the church nursery.  My youngest daughter, I have literally peeled her off of me at times.  She would hold on to me for dear life.  If I got one foot away from me her other leg was still holding tightly.  As soon as I would get one body part unglued there would be a new body part somehow attached to me.    Sometimes, I would stay in her class in hopes that she would decide to get busy and stay.  But I could move a muscle and immediately there were arms and legs surrounding my neck and body.  I could not escape her eyes, even when I thought her focus was elsewhere.  I think this paints a picture of how we should grip truth in the middle of transitions.

Unfortunately, in times of transitions, it is easy to let doubt take root in our hearts.  Those truths we have once claimed seem to disappear.  Fear rises to the top of our hearts.  We can't even see the light around us.  Shadows have overtaken.  Doubt takes over.  Instead of holding tightly to the truth, we are questioning those very truths.  In Proverbs 3 we find these directions:  store God’s commands in your heart, never let love and faithfulness leave you, tie them around your neck, and write them deep within your heart.

Transitions call for a delicate balance of holding on and letting go.

Hold on for dear life to God’s truth.  Hide His word in your heart.  Keep His promises ever before you.  Put God's promises in strategic places to constantly remind you of His truth!  If you were to visit my home, you might find promises on my refrigerator, on my mirror, on my desk, and as the wallpaper of my cell phone.  If I can keep His truth ever before me, then I can be reminded throughout my day of His promises for my life.  

Letting go is another part of transitions.  This time of the year, many parents are preparing to let go of their high school seniors to the next season of life.  Some even find themselves as empty nesters.  However, there are many more transitions.  Marriage requires one to leave mom and dad.  A baby often brings life transitions.  Retirement means letting go of jobs to stay at home.  Long term illness means letting go of self sufficiency.  Death of a loved one means letting go of a loved one’s physical presence.  The list of transitions is numerous in life and each transition involves letting go.  Letting go is hard!  Letting go requires a grief cycle to occur.  We can refuse to let go and hold on to that which we need to let go of and make ourselves utterly miserable or we can choose to let go of what we need to and hold on to His promises in our life.

There will be times in our lives, when God’s word does not FEEL like truth.   However, if His truths are written deep in our hearts it will be easier to let go and hold on.  When God’s word does not FEEL like truth, this is when it is time to speak aloud God’s truths. “God, I know you say in your word that _______, but God I don’t feel that way right now.  So right now despite my feeling I am reminding myself of your truth!  Help me believe it and make this truth real to me right now Jesus.”  There is blessing in proclaiming truth even when we don’t feel like it.

Hold on to truth.  Let go of those things that must be let go of in this transition time.  Speak audibly His truths even when it does not FEEL like truth.  Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promises.  Hebrews 10:23

  1. What truth do you need to hold on to right now?  Write this promise and put it in various places where you will be reminded to think on this promise numerous times a day.  
  2. What do you need to let go of so that you can hold tight to His promises?
  3. Audibly speak His promises to yourself even when it doesn’t feel like truth today.

--Karen Smith

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