Clinging

Psalm 63:8 - My whole being follows hard after You and clings closely to You; Your right hand upholds me.

It's funny how God grows us. I wrote a lot of what I'm about to share about a year ago. Recently God has expanded my picture of what clinging is and looks like.

I was having one of those sweet mornings. I had a few moments to read my Bible. My sleepy-eyed three-and-a-half year old little boy slowly walks to the living room and simply says, “Mommy, I want to hold you.” How can you resist that?! So, we snuggled on the couch, chatted for a bit, got breakfast and watched a little bit of TV. Then we got ready for school/daycare because mommy had to get to work. The meltdown began and continued intermittently until we got to the school parking lot. The message he kept giving me in his pathetic, little whiny voice was, “Mommy, I just want to hold you.”

It was just a rough morning, for both of us by this time. I told his teacher he was a bit clingy this morning. She started tickling him while I made my escape, which made me so sad.

Then as only our sweet Heavenly Father could do, He reminded me of what being clingy really means. So, I looked up the word “cling” in the dictionary. Here’s what it said:

1 a: to hold together b: to adhere as if glued firmly c: to hold or hold on tightly or tenaciously 2 a: to have a strong emotional attachment or dependence b: to remain or linger as if resisting complete dissipation or dispersal

Wow! I thought how much I long for my children to cling to me, but how I want them to grow into strong, God-fearing, God-loving independent men. In our human-ness we can’t do or be both. However, God simply reminded me that clinging to Him is a great picture of what he wants our relationship to look like. He wants me to eat solid food, get more nutrients, take responsibility for my actions and attitude, but at the end of the day if I don’t cling to him, I have no strength – nothing to give.

So what does clinging to him look like? For me, it looks like this…
When I’m struggling with that sin that I keep choosing to do, I must cling to him to overcome its hold on me.
1. When I’m scared and uncertain about the future, I must cling to him because he holds the future. I must talk with him and listen to him so I know what my next steps will be.
2. When I’m overwhelmed with doing to much, I must cling to him and ask him what needs to go in my schedule and then refer to #1 so I can be obedient.

3. When I don’t know where to turn, turn to the one who knows the best directions and the best plans for you.
4. Take a look at all of Psalm 63 – It’s a good picture of clinging! All in all, it looks like a sweet child resting in her Father’s arms. Enjoying the time together. Savoring His presence.
5. Take a look at John 17:10-18. In verse 17 Jesus tells Mary Magdalene to stop clinging to him because he has not yet returned to the Father.

I noticed that sometimes I cling to so many other things than the One who oversees the universe. Other times I cling to parts of Jesus, but not the complete Jesus. This is what I mean - Mary Magdalene was clinging to a relationship with Jesus even though it wasn't complete. He still had to go be with the Father so the Holy Spirit could come for and be with us. Who or what are you clinging to? Are you clinging to a relationship the way you remember it or are you embracing the way the relationship really exists (or doesn't exist) now? It's hard to cling to the new normal or the new comfort zone. The more we know who Jesus is, the more we have to cling to.

Join me in the journey of living a life clinging to Jesus.