What Are You Clinging To In Your Life?

There is a 5-letter, very familiar word that has been ricocheting through the canyons of my heart recently.

It’s a word that we all know … and that we all do … and yet that we often ignore it’s singular and potent impact.

Cling.

When you think of the word “cling” what do you think about?

Perhaps reading the definition will help you wrap your mind around it:

Cling: 1 – to adhere closely; stick to:

         2 – to hold tight, as by grasping or embracing; cleave:

         3 – to be or remain close:

         4 – to remain attached, as to an idea, hope or memory:

         5 – to cohere.

I have been thinking about this word lately and have been asking myself the question, “Carol, what are some of the things in life to which you cling?”

Often, I have been guilty of clinging to the wrong things and assertively pushing away the right things. I have mistakenly believed that a temporary fix is what would comfort me when in reality … what I desperately needed was the unseen and the eternal.

But … I did not choose to cling to the unseen and the eternal in those very telling moments of my life.

Cling is a particular word that has the potential to create a powerful picture in our minds and in our hearts.

Cling.

Can't you just see a baby clinging to her mother's neck?

Can't you just picture a wife clinging to her husband before he goes off to war?

Can't you just picture a grief-stricken mother clinging to a photograph of her son or daughter who is no longer alive?

“How much longer must I cling to this constant grief?
    I’ve endured this shaking of my soul.
    So how much longer will my enemy have the upper hand?” – Psalm 13:2 TPT

No one would deny the hidden power that lives inside the word “cling”.

So … now it is your turn … when you think of the word “cling” … what do you think about?

What have you been clinging to lately? Anything?

Perhaps you are not clinging to anything or anyone but are adrift and alone in a stormy season of life.

It is when life is hard … when our world has fallen apart … and when the winds of circumstances are blowing fiercely … that who or what we cling to has the most compelling impact.

When we cling to the wrong things in life, we will be swallowed alive by the pain of wretched happenings.

However, when we cling to that which is steady and is more than able to save us, we will come out on the other side of the storm stronger and more resilient than when we first encountered the unexpected gale.

If we were completely honest, though, we might admit that oftentimes in life, we cling to all of the wrong things.

We cling to food … to unhealthy relationships … to a detrimental mindset … to spending … to fantasy … to Netflix … to creature comforts … that are of no help at all. No help at all.

Netflix won’t comfort you … food won’t save you … negativity won’t guide you … and buying won’t restore you 

“We live our lives like those living in shadows.
    All our activities and energies are spent for things that pass away.
    We gather, we hoard, we cling to our things,
    only to leave them all behind for who knows who.” – Psalm 39:6 TPT

What do you cling to when you are in over your head?

I was talking with a dear friend recently who is going through a hellacious experience. It’s a situation that none of us would want to navigate and it is through no fault of her own. She is quite simply the victim of a vicious and compromised system.

Her heart is broken and her hope is gone.

She said this to me recently, "I know that I just need to cling to the Lord." 

“Those who cling to their lives will give up true life. But those who let go of their lives for my sake and surrender it all to me will discover true life!” – Matthew 10:39 - TPT 

Isn't it true that when our hearts are broken that we need the Lord more than ever?

“So when all of these things happen, you will still trust and cling to Me.” – John 14:29 TPT

Our emotions might falsely convince us to push Him away when what we really need to do is to cling to Him.

How do you cling to the Lord?

For me, clinging has always been about reading the Word ... about worshipping with tears rolling down my cheeks ... and about praying very honest prayers.

For me, clinging has always been about trusting that He is always good in spite of my pain.

Cling.

“No matter what, I will continue to hope and passionately cling to Christ, so that He will be openly revealed through me before everyone’s eyes. So I will not be ashamed! In my life or in my death, Christ will be magnified in me.” – Philippians 1:20

Thanks for listening to my heart this week.  As you know by now, my heart is truly not a perfect heart but it is a heart that is filled to overflowing with gratitude for the life I have been given and for the people who walk with me.  And, it continues to be a heart that is relentlessly chasing after God and all that He is!