Hang On!

Do you see this woman desperately hanging on?  Fingers slipping... Body so weary and worn... What invisible force gives her the strength to cling on?

There are times we may feel like we can't hang on anymore in life's storms.  We may think:  Nobody can be going through what I'm going through...  Nobody can be feeling the way I do...  My pain is so deep!  No one cares.  No one understands.

I have learned there is ONE Who does know every single thing we go through - every hurt, every tear, every black despair that envelops us.  Jesus feels our pain and cries with us.  He has suffered more than all of us put together.  Yes, He cares.  Yes, He understands.  Yes, He deeply empathizes with us.

God has brought me through a dysfunctional childhood and sexual, spiritual, and emotional abuse from a minister.  Jesus washes my wounds again and again.  He gives me the strength to hang onto Him as my only HOPE.  Layer by layer He heals me, and one day I will be perfectly healed when He takes me to Himself where there is no more sin or suffering.

I also struggle with a chronic lung disease - chronic bronchitis, asthma, and bronchiectasis. It can be so overwhelming at times, and I get so weary, but I will hang onto my only HOPE, my Jesus Who has a reason for this, too.

Am I always upbeat and positive?  No, there are days when my body and soul are battered by life's storms and I don't think I can cling on any longer.  But through Jesus, my HOPE, there are some days where I do more than survive.  I can dance victoriously, thankful for all the many blessings I have.  And someday I will be a victory dancer forever with Jesus!

"Jesus, give us strength day by day to hang on to YOU! When we are weary, please carry us. When we are hurting, please hug us to Yourself and comfort us. We need you, Jesus! Without YOU, we will perish in the storms of life. Thank You, Jesus, for Your undying empathy and Your unfailing love!"

During what time in your life did you feel you couldn't hang on any longer? 

What gave you hope?

Lord, Save Me!

Matthew 14

One of my favorite Bible passages is when Jesus walked on water to the disciples in the boat and Peter said, "Lord, if it's You, tell me to come to You on the water." 

Jesus said, "Come."  Peter did walk on the water until he lost sight of Jesus.  When he looked around and saw the boisterous waves swirling around him, he began to sink.

"Lord, save me!"  Peter cried as the sea threatened to swallow him and fear and desperation choked him. 

Did Jesus let him drown?  No, Jesus immediately reached out His hand and caught Peter.  Amazing love and faithfulness!

I can almost imagine the sorrow in Jesus' eyes as He said, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"

I, too, am of such little faith.  As I look back on my life, there were so many times when wave after wave crashed over me and the undercurrent of doubt and despair sucked me under.  There were even times when I wanted to just give up.  Not even God cared, I thought.  I once was so near to swallowing a full bottle of aspirin.  Several times I was sorely tempted to drive my car off a cliff. 

It's a miracle that I didn't take my life.  Relief from my troubles and despair didn't always come immediately, but in hindsight I see how God's grace did spare me again and again.

Jesus is available 24/7 to lend a helping hand.  It was my focus that was off.  I concentrated on the storm raging within me instead of looking to Jesus and His power to save.

Reader, if you are in despair for some reason or another, take heart.  There is nothing too impossible for God.  I pray that Jesus will again and again open our eyes to His hand reaching out and our ears to His invitation, "Come to Me, my precious child.  I will be with you no matter how dark the valley.  I will never leave you or forsake you."