“Therefore, we who have fled to Him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold on to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.” Hebrews 6:18-19, NLT
One of the most wonderful things that we have the ability to do with our hands is to hold on to something. What an amazing act of creation, that all those tiny bones and muscles can work together to close tightly around an object and grasp it! In the Word of God, this action of “holding on” is often used to illustrate spiritual truths. Scripture talks about how we must hold on to God or hold on to hope…but it also talks about how He holds on to us.
As I was trying to picture this dual spiritual truth in my mind, I thought about an experience I had once (ok, maybe more than once...) while riding the “SkyTram” at an airport. After entering the tram, I was knocked off balance as it jerked into sudden movement. Just in time I grabbed the safety pole and held on tight, which (thankfully) kept me from falling and humiliating myself! At the same time, however, the tram was securely holding me! I was completely closed in, and even if I had stumbled and fallen, I would have only fallen so far; to the floor, perhaps, but I could not have fallen to the earth far below. That safety pole was an immovable anchor within a solid enclosure that was holding me, even when everything else was moving around me.
Life often throws us off balance; but the writer of Hebrews tells us that we must seize the hope that we have in Jesus and hang on tight! This verse says that we can have “great confidence” that the hope we have taken hold of is a secure and immovable hope, and will enable us to stand upright. What (or Who) exactly is that hope? In His word we read that “our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people…” (I Tim. 4:10).
And the best part is, even if my hands grow weak and I lose my grip, His hand remains strong and keeps me enclosed within His mercy and grace. I might stumble, and I might even look foolish to those around me, but I can only fall so far. Psalm 139:9-10 says, “If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast.”
Today, as you ponder the intricate miracle of the human hand that enables you to hold on to your coffee cup, think also about ways that you can exercise your “spiritual hand muscles.” Choose to release your desperate hold on temporal things, and instead cling to God and His eternal, immovable hope…
even as you are being held by Him.
When I fear my faith will fail
Christ will hold me fast
When the tempter would prevail
He will hold me fast
I could never keep my hold
Through life’s fearful path
For my love is often cold
He must hold me fast
He will hold me fast
He will hold me fast
For my Saviour loves me so
He will hold me fast.
“He Will Hold Me Fast” by Keith and Kristyn Getty
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