Hold On part 4
In this world we will have tribulation. That's just the nature of the world. Stuff happens, to paraphrase Forrest Gump. The trick is to know the truth. The ultimate truth of the universe. That God is love and He loves you. That He--through His love--can keep you from falling. Can carry you through. Look at 1 Timothy 6:19, "Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." Having that foundation is so key. Knowing and believing that no matter what happens... God's got our back. He is in control. Remember when the storm was raging and Jesus was down in the boat sleeping peacefully? He wasn't worried about the tribulation. He woke up, spoke a word, and that was that. "Peace. Be still." In other words, the best (only?) way to calm the storm is by injecting love into it. Because that's who Jesus is. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. And speaking that Word (which is Jesus, which is love) lets what is inside come out! How do we hold on to the love that God has given us? By giving it away! How do we experience and enjoy the gift we've been given? By giving it away! By paying it forward. By sharing it. Love is giving. God so loved the world that He GAVE His only begotten Son. You can give without loving but you can't love without giving. Because love IS giving. So you hold on by letting go. Letting God. Laying up that good foundation in store for ourselves against the times to come simply means filling ourselves to overflowing with what we've been filled with. Letting God love us so much that we have an abundance of love inside that is just bursting at the seams to come out. And then letting it out. Letting God love us and then loving Him back by loving each other. That's the Divine Order of things. Understanding that it's not about us holding on to God as much as it is about us understanding that God is holding on to us! Jesus had His hands outstretched on the cross, right? Inviting us in. Welcoming us in. Like the prodigal son whose father ran to meet him because daddy was so happy that his son had come home. So even if you do--in the Adam and Eve hiding from God's presence sense-- "let go" of God and try to do it yourself... you're never disqualified from coming back home. THEY say you can never go home again. But God says, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." When you understand that home is not just a physical place, but it is the loving arms of your heavenly Father, that's when you can be at home no matter where you are or what's going on. That's when you can live the life you were created to live. And sometimes it does take letting go. Letting go of the lies that hold us back. Laying aside the weight and the sin (unbelief) that so easily besetts us. Understanding that all things ARE under our feet. We don't need to fight and struggle and overcome because Jesus already overcame. We can be of good cheer in the midst of our trials and tribulations. Because we know that all things work together for good! Because we know that we have a Comforter living inside of us, teaching us how to live. Teaching us how to love by teaching us how we are loved. Because to live is to love and to love is to live. They aren't just connected, they are the same thing. You can't do one without the other and you can't have one without the other. So lay up that foundation. Build it strong. The foundation of love. The Rock that will not be shaken. And then when the storm comes--and it will, it always does--YOU won't be shaken. You'll be able to stand firm. You'll be able to weather the storm. You'll be able to get through what you're going through and make it to the other side. And you'll learn and grow along the way. You'll be able to then help others get through what you've gone through. You'll be able to love with the love that you are loved with!