I Almost Stopped Holding On To God

August 25, 2017

“This is hopeless…everything is hopeless…life is hopeless.”

“What good is my faith in God if the pain of life keeps coming?”

“I’m going to let go because taking the spiritual road is not worth it.”

Those are just a few of the thoughts I had early in my faith walk during an excruciating painful stretch of road. But God is now using that experience to help other Christians in the same predicament. Here’s what I learned…

Not being able to hold on is caused by something more than whatever pain or struggle has entered our tent. We let go when we LOSE HOPE and “determine” on our own that there is “no way out” and the situation will “never get better.” We let go when we replace hope with despair and our grip loosens finger by finger.

This kind of despair almost always goes unnoticed because we have become proficient at covering it up with our faces and facades. People around us don’t know that a volcano is about to encase our soul in its molten coffin. And they certainly don’t know that we have lost touch with God.

Wait–God gives us a way out!

When we start to lose our grip and want to give up, God wants us to keep holding on to him through the travail. He wants us to come out the other side stronger for the next test and resolute to help others who are losing their grip. He wants us to stay connected to him every day so we keep holding on when hopelessness raises its ugly head.

“We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” Hebrews 2:1

Here are the three steps I take to keep my spiritual grip:

STEP 1: ANCHOR

We need to anchor ourselves to God and stop trying to control our future. We need to ask him to shape each day’s circumstances into a tapestry that glorifies him.

“So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”  Deuteronomy 31:6

STEP 2: ASSURANCE

God promises us perseverance, and he assures us we will prevail. We can know with absolute certainty that we are on the right path and that God will protect us all the way—no matter what the circumstances may be.

“The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”  Psalm 121:7-8

STEP 3: ACCEPTANCE

We need to accept that God has a higher purpose for the adversity we experience in our lives. The Bible is clear that not only may the righteous suffer, but some of the righteous suffer precisely because of their righteousness.

“Everyone who wants to live a Godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” 2 Timothy 3:12

How strong is your spiritual grip when the volcanoes of life are starting to rumble or ready to erupt? What action step could you take that would tighten that grip?