made to cling

 

*For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the LORD, that they might be for me a people, a name,  a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen* Jeremiah 13:11

 I ran across this verse today and it stopped me.  Stopped me in my tracks... wait, made to cling?

What does it look like to be made to cling?

I know what it looks like to cling to something in hard times.  I went boogie boarding earlier today and the waves and current were fierce, so I clung to my board.  I know what that looks like.

But to be made to cling, now what does that look like?

Too often I cling to the Lord only when times are rough.  I think it's okay to cling to God in hard times.  The bible even commends the man who finds refuge in the Lord. (Psalm 34:8) The bible says he is blessed.  So it's okay to cling to the Lord in hard times...

but is that enough?

If we were made to cling to the Lord, shouldn't we be clinging more than in just the bad times?  I don't think I've got this down yet.  I don't think I cling to the Lord in all times, yet.

To be honest, I'm reading a book by Vance Havner titled, "The Secret of Christian Joy" because I often rely on my feelings and when my feelings aren't there... well, it makes things harder.  Gosh, I'm such a feeler.  This is such a gift but such a darned thing too! :) Mikey always teases me when I give him directions and say, "Well, I feel like it's this way." and he says, "You feel like it's this way?"

I rely on my feelings a lot.

I guess you could say I cling to my feelings.

So I grabbed this book off my father's shelves because I'm curious.  What do people do when the feelings just aren't there?  I'm not questioning my faith, I know there is more to my walk then just feeling happy.  What I guess I'm wondering is, how to minister when I feel parched myself.  How do you give someone water when your own canteen is dry?

So through Havner's book and today's reading in Jeremiah I am realizing that I need to get back to the Source.  I need to cling to Jesus in more times than the bad.  Because by the time the bad times hit, I'm already in a flurry.  So I need some stability and consistency and the only place I'm going to get that, is with the One who made me.

Made to cling.

I may have more thoughts on this because I feel like I should sit and ponder this a bit more but from now on may we all cling a little bit tighter in the good times of life and remember that to truly know ourselves we must intimately know the One who made us and the purpose of our creation.