Holding On

I want to do a follow-up on yesterday's blog post. It regards the observation that God often doesn't send aid until the last moment. How do we hang on until the eleventh hour help comes? One of my favorite essays in one of my favorite books helps with a great illustration. Dustin Shramek wrote an article entitled "Waiting for the Morning during the Long Night of Weeping" in a book named Suffering and the Sovereignty of God, edited by John Piper and Justin Taylor. Every home should have a copy of this - it's the absolute best collection of articles on the subject.

Here is how to hang on, literally!

"Experiencing grief and pain is like falling off a cliff. Everything has been turned upside down, and we are no longer in control. As we fall, we see one and only one tree that is growing out from the rock face. So we grab hold of it and cling to it with all our might. This tree is our holy God. He alone can keep us from falling headfirst to our doom. There simply aren't any other trees to grab. So we cling to this tree (the holy God) with all our might.

But what we didn't realize is that when we fell and grabbed the tree our arm actually became entangled in the branches, so that in reality, the tree is holding us. We hold on to keep from falling, but what we don't realize is that we can't fall because the tree has us. We are safe. God, in his holiness, is keeping us and showing mercy to us. We may not be aware of it, but it is true. He is with us even in the darkest pit."

One of the ways we are helped to hang on until the eleventh hour help comes is to remember that God is the one holding us up every moment of every hour, even when it feels like we are in the middle of a free fall.

Something to remember when life seems to be more than a little out of control...