Cling to God with Child-Like Trust

I was talking recently with a friend who is going through a pretty traumatic season in her life. In her effort to explain to me how she was holding onto God through these rough days, she described it much like a small child holding onto her father’s leg.

You know what that looks like, don’t you? We’ve probably all done it as children. Our whole body is wrapped around daddy’s leg and he’s trying to walk with this weight on his ankle.

Keep that picture in mind, but the scenario plays out much differently when it’s God we’re clinging to.

As she went on to describe the picture in her head, she said, “It feels like I’m not moving at all because I’m not walking, but I know I’m moving with God.”

Wow! How powerful is that picture? And what an accurate depiction of what it looks like to hold fast to God when our world around us seems to be falling apart.

As we continued talking, I couldn’t help but draw more and more parallels to what it looks like to cling to God, and why it might just be the best way to move forward during difficult seasons. Here are just a few of the thoughts God impressed upon me during this conversation with my friend:

• Letting go of our own efforts and relying completely on God is how he wants us to live our lives.
• Clinging to him this tightly means we are going the direction he wants us to, even though it may feel like we’re not moving.
• When our feet are up off the ground, it means we aren’t lagging behind God, and we’re not running ahead of him. We are in sync with him which ultimately puts us right in the middle of his will.
• We can close our eyes and rest in the knowledge that we are safe – operative word here is rest!
• Unlike our earthly fathers, God never gets weary of letting us cling to him. In fact, he invites it.
• When we develop a lifestyle that causes us to cling to God when we’re fearful or confused or overwhelmed, it also allows us to walk alongside him during the beautiful seasons of our life – just like the image above.

What’s your go-to response when you hit a rough patch in life? What’s mine? I tend to trudge through the gunk in my own strength only to become weary in the process, and most likely completely lost! Eventually I catch up with God, but so often I’m going my own direction first.

I believe word pictures like my friend shared with me are powerful ways for us to grasp deep truths about God. For me, there’s an immediate mind/heart connection when I picture myself clinging like this to my heavenly Father.

Just like so many of the Christian “disciplines,” the more we see that God comes through for us, the more we are willing to trust him the next time trouble comes knocking on our doors. Sure, the really hard seasons will cause us to cling to him as my friend was. But, isn’t walking hand-in-hand with Jesus the best way to live our lives regardless of the season we’re in?

With a fresh new year spread out before us, I pray we can stay close to God regardless of the season of our life – clinging through the storms, or skipping along through the sunshine. I guarantee you’ll have some of both this year! God can be your constant in all your days.

You shall walk after the Lord your God

and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice,

and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.

Deuteronomy 13:4