Hang on tight!

Western hail storms are nothing to be trifled with. They loom dark and intimidating on the horizon then they sweep in quickly and carrying chaos.

Crops decimated, power lines torn, fences blown over, windows broken, vehicles dented, equipment damaged – hail storms are immeasurably destructive.

A few years ago my sister and I got caught in a hail storm as we were driving out to her ranch. We could see it coming but we couldn’t get home quickly enough.  Within minutes we couldn’t see the road more than a few yards ahead and the crushed hail made driving lethally treacherous. So we pulled into another farmyard and parked under a tree for some shelter.

The noise was so deafening that we couldn’t even hear one another speak even though we were a couple of feet apart. Kind of like being inside of a snare drum. All we could do was huddle together in the ear-splitting din and wait for the storm to pass.

Which it soon did. The silence was almost startling and we knew it was safe again to drive on. Then I saw him on the ground.

Right next to the car a very stunned little bird had a death grip around a little twig of a branch. Convinced that he was safe as long as he gripped the branch, the tenacious little bird held on to the branch even when it snapped in the wind and plummeted to the ground.

 Sometimes we hold on to the strangest things.

While I pitied the little storm survivor I realized that I do the same thing. We put a death grip on such flimsy things – things that have as much durability as that little twig. Like a little piece of green paper with a president’s picture on it. That will be our ultimate life saver?!!? Like other fallible, changeable people. They will endure life tsunamis with the strength and perseverance to carry their own burdens and protect us too?!? Like our social position or job or place in a group. We can count on that indefinitely, even though nobody else in history has found those things reliable?!?!

We think if we just don’t lose our grip on [insert your safety net HERE] when the wind blows and the icy chunks of life come hurtling down, we will make it through in good shape!

Fortunately, there is a better option.

I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. I will thank You forever, because You have done it.

I will wait for your name, for it is good. Psalm 52:8

And we think it all depends on the strength of our grip!

And our grip is so unnecessary! Because we are held by Him – He holds on to us.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. Romans 8:38

He will hold us fast.

None of our storms are the same. But we all have them. And as long as we live in this broken, sinful world they will keep coming. The storms bring us opportunity to see our God at work from a front row seat. And it is amazing to watch Him work! He is continuously orchestrating deliverance and rescue in ways especially suited to our needs.

We will do well to hang on tight – to Him – and rest in the fact that our security is found in the reality that He is hanging on to us.

You can LISTEN HERE to He will Hold us Fast.

I hope that we will pause often to hear the soft voice of the Spirit of God inviting us to check our storm preparation status.  That’s a better option than flying through a storm without hanging on tight to Truth.