We have probably all seen clips from movies where someone is hanging off the edge of a cliff or building, and holding on for dear life. Some make it and some don’t.
Life can be like that at times. We are literally holding on. What we hold on to will differ for each of us. For me, my faith in Christ is what I hold onto. There are times when I’m holding on firmly and feel safe, and there are times when I feel I have lost my grip and am just barely hanging on by my fingertips.
But surely you can only hang on for so long with your fingertips and then that’s it.
Where is God whilst I’m hanging on for dear life? Does He just look on or take delight in seeing His children in such desperate situations? One would certainly hope not and that’s never been my view of God over the years.
When we feel like we only have our fingertips left to hang on with, He is actually there beneath making sure we don’t fall, that we don’t drop.
Deut 33:27 “The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And he thrust out the enemy before you and said, ‘Destroy.”
The question that sometimes rages in my mind is why do some people seem to drop and not make it? Is it because they gave up on God? Did God really let them down and fail them? Were they not ‘saved’’ after all? I wish I knew the answers.
There does seem to be an element of us doing our part, even if it is just literally hanging on by our fingertips with any faith that we have. Is there an element of giving God something to work with even if it is minuscule?
Here is a quote from a well known, respected Christian teacher, “You want to know whether your faith is real? In your darkest hour, when you run to the loving Father and pour out your heart, you are crying, ‘Abba Father!’ That’s the evidence that the Spirit is in you. Only truly saved believers do that”.
This quote gives us the idea that if one gives up and doesn’t make it, it’s because they weren’t truly saved. I’m not sure I would go along with that. I’ve often heard it said that if we do our part then God will do His. But it appears that we can only do our part if we are truly saved and the Holy Spirit is working in our lives. Therefore the fingertip faith that we have is the Holy Spirit at work in us, He helps us to hang on, according to one view.
In my own personal trials over the last two years or so it has been said to me, ‘God has got you’. ‘He won’t let you go’, and so forth. Those saying do lend themselves to the ‘once saved always saved’ understanding.
Is it God? is it me? Why does it have to be one or the other? My understanding is that we work out what God works in. So even in my darkest times, God is working in me. However, I do have to somehow respond to that working. If we think about someone who is drowning in the river. We can throw out a rope for them to grab a hold of. But they might not be able to, or simply don’t want to be saved. Does it mean that this person lost faith or wasn’t a Christian any longer?
These are serious questions that need careful, thoughtful answers. I’ve heard Christians say that someone is in hell because they committed suicide. I personally believe that God is a lot more gracious and merciful than we can ever know.
If someone’s fingertips finally slip then God has them either way. Losing our grip in this life is not a sign of weakness or even a sign that we lost faith.
These are big and real questions. Many of us may have suffered the loss of a loved one through illness, suicide or tragedy. Many of us struggle to hold on in our own day to day faith when trials and testing comes.
Let’s be slow to talk about strong faith and weak faith. The seemingly weak are or were probably a lot stronger than we gave or give them credit for.
Both in life and in death the everlasting arms of God remain. In life and death, He is our dwelling place.
Prayer - Dear Lord and Father, help us to feel safe in Your arms. May we, in very dark times, know Your presence. Forgive me and us for saying and thinking wrong things both about You and those around us who are struggling. Amen
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