HANGING IN THERE!

Busy-ness is the thread I often try to cling to. Will I ever learn? God’s secure love keeps drawing me back, however. Praise His name! So…what threads are you clinging to?

ETERNAL PERSPECTIVES        By Sally Bair

The thread of God’s love

One cold, rainy day when my children were young, I dropped them off at a relative’s house just prior to their arrival home. My youngest son, about eight, knew where to get the house key, so we designated him to climb over the yard fence to retrieve it. My other two children and I remained in the warm, dry car.

He climbed the five-foot fence, balanced his feet on the top horizontal plank, and crouched down for his jump to the ground. Seconds before he jumped, we saw that the back of his winter jacket was caught on the top wire of the fence. Too late to stop him, I watched helplessly as he jumped. His arms and legs swung free as he hung by the edge of his jacket. Realizing he wasn’t hurt, we couldn’t help but laugh.

Before I could reach him I heard one jacket button pop. The next one flew into the yard as he dropped in a heap to the ground. Talk about being left high and dry!  We all still laugh about it.

Sometimes we’re left high and dry. Circumstances sometimes put us in precarious predicaments, which leave us wondering if we can hang on to the thread of sanity or emotional stability. We may feel unloved or unworthy, like life isn’t hardly worth the effort any more. Our hope for a better tomorrow may have fled.

No matter how we feel, no matter what we’ve gone through, no matter how we’ve botched things, we can count on God’s love and acceptance of us. “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.” (John 15:9)

What a promise!  When we choose to accept God’s great love for us, we no longer have to feel that we’re barely hanging on by a thread. The thread of His love is so strong, it will never let go. It will see us through the worst circumstances. His love will surround us like a winter jacket, with no danger of causing us to fall in a heap. The entire Bible speaks of God’s strength—and the strength of His love. We can count on it always. We don’t have to hang by a thread.

Lord, thank You for Your Word which promises that Your love never fails. Life may have its threadbare moments, but with You in control of our lives, we receive strength to keep going to the end. In Jesus’ name we ask for Your strength today. Amen.