The Divine Cling
Sometimes, when I look back through my daily journaling, I am surprised by the honesty in some of my writings. One entry revealed a striking contrast in my spirit:
“Thank you, God, for this new morning. There is beauty, sunshine, and peace all around me. Still, the grip of loneliness is trying to cling this morning. Let loneliness cling. God’s grip is much, much tighter. God bless this day.”
Our faith walk often moves through struggle, yet what matters most is that God always has an answer. In Mary Fishback Powers’ poem “Footprints in the Sand,” faith is strengthened by the truth that, regardless of life’s circumstances, God holds us and will never let us go. We must keep pushing and not give in until God speaks.
In the spiritual “Nobody knows the trouble I see. Nobody knows but Jesus. Nobody knows the trouble I see, glory hallelujah,” the contrast goes beyond rational thought. The song has been associated with a mother witnessing her daughter being sold into slavery. It holds both separation and unbearable grief—the cries of a child and the anguish of a mother who cannot stop the loss. Yet in the midst of horrific suffering and sorrow, she cries, glory hallelujah. Giving God praise in the midst of pain demonstrates her faith.
The Book of Psalms also leads us through this same movement of faith—the peaks of trust and the valleys of anguish clinging side by side:
“I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13, KJV).
“O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way? How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul with sorrow in my heart every day? But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. I will sing to the Lord because God has been so good to me” (Psalm 13: 1-2, 5-6, NIV).
These passages do not deny pain; they teach us how to carry it. Faith does not erase the valley, but it reminds us that God is present there, clinging to us more tightly than anything trying to pull us away.
Thank you, God, for your love that covers and clings to us when we cannot carry ourselves. Your love is deep enough to keep us from drowning and strong enough to hold us when loneliness tries to pull us in. May we always remember that this is a walk by faith and that it is far better to live by faith and patiently wait, because God never forsakes the righteous. AMEN
“Yet, I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. God makes my feet like hinds feet. God makes me tread upon high places” (paraphrased Habakkuk 3:18-19, KJV).
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