There is a woman in our church in Montrose, California who
has gone through some difficult times.
One Sunday after worship I asked her how she was doing. She replied, "I'm sticking to God like
glue." Her answer connected with me
and I've been thinking about it.
Sometimes life hits so hard that a person is left reeling in
anguish and frustration and deep emotional pain. The hits keep coming and the wounds get
deeper and the solutions seem light years away.
What kind of faith does it take to stick to God like glue
when it seems that everything in the world is working to get a wedge in so that
the bond breaks?
Everyday the sun rises, the alarm clock rings, and life
goes, pain or no pain, frustration or no frustration, solutions or no solutions. In the midst of the stories choices need to
be made. Will we crash and burn? Will we face down the realities? Will we run from God or to God? Will we fret and fume or commit and trust?
There is a story about King
David in the Old Testament that speaks of how the love of God can embrace a
person when they are in the throws of pain, suffering, and even death. He found himself in a very difficult
situation, complicated by the failure of a broken relationship with his Son, prince
Absalom, who had instigated a revolt against him. King David fled Jerusalem and
headed east through the Judean Desert (2 Sam. 16:1). He escaped to the
Levitical city of Mahanaim, in the region of Gilead to the east of the Jordan River
(2 Sam. 17:24).
Needless to say, David was in
a world of hurt, and there in the world of hurt, he gives us Psalm
63. This Psalm is a prayer for all of us
broken and human types who do desperately need to stay near God in the ebb and
flow of our lives. David prays, "My soul clings to You; Your right hand
upholds me" (Ps. 63:8). Perhaps this is David's way of saying that
his soul was sticking to God like glue.
"My soul clings to You."
What is this amazing glue of
which my friend spoke and of which David hints?
In Psalm 63:3 David revealed his heart for God. He prayed, "Because Your lovingkindness is
better than life, my lips will praise you." And there we have it. God's love is the glue.
My friend spoke of sticking
to God like glue. Maybe it is actually
God sticking to us like glue. Maybe it's
both. I think my friend is on to
something. She got me to thinking about
how it might be good to think about God's love as Velcro, even more secure than
Velcro; maybe something like a bond created by Sovereign and amazing grace,
Sovereign and astonishing love, Sovereign and uncompromising acceptance.
The love of God is an amazing
reality, a reality that wraps the arms of God around us and refuses to let us
go. When you don't have the strength to stick
to God like glue remember God is holding on to you with the love that led Jesus
to the cross. As you cling to God take a
close look and you will see that He is hanging on to you, too. And, remember, like David you, too, can pray,
"My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me…You
are my God; I shall seek you earnestly" (Psalm 63:8, 1).
