He's holding on to us - Rev. Moses Khade

The Babylonian army of King Nebuchadnezzar in 587 BC conquered Palestine and took the Jews captive to Babylon. They were cut off from their homeland where they had worshipped in the temple. When they went to the temple to worship in their own land, they believed that God was with them. In captivity they wondered – Where is God? Is God going to be with us in that strange land? And as they were in exile for many years, the prophet Isaiah gave them these words of hope. ‘So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand’ (Isa.41:10).

Where is God this is a question we often ask in difficult circumstances. Where is God when you woke up in the morning and found that your husband had had a heart attack? Where is God when your boss called you on a Friday and said, ‘We’re phasing out your area of the company’. In circumstances such as these we wonder – How we are going to be able to cope with the crisis? What shall we do? To whom shall we turn? Who will give us solace and strength?

Moments in life when you can’t hold on to God, when you can’t even reach out to Him, when we are too weak even to pray – God reaches out to us! God holds on to us and God will never, ever, ever let us go! ‘The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged’ (Deut 31:8). As we journey on the high way you will find traffic signboard.

Life is a journey and we do not know what will happen next. And there are no caution sign ahead of us saying ‘Today something is going to happen to you’. There is no warning sign; it just hits us out of the blue. God is there for us. He will not shield us from all pain. He will not eliminate all suffering/adversity. The vicissitudes of life are real for everyone, but God says – In the midst of suffering, in the midst of pain, I will hold on to you! I will hold you in my everlasting arms, and I will never, ever, ever, ever, let you go! David says in Psalms ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me’ (Ps.23:4).

A single woman in our church was going through surgery and her parents couldn’t be with her. Someone in her office called her a day or two after surgery to see how she was doing, and said, “I am so sorry that you were alone for surgery, that no one was with you”. She answered, “Well, thank you for the thought, and I appreciate it more than you know, but may I tell you that I wasn’t alone for the surgery? Can I tell you that not only were the doctors, the nurses and the technicians with me, but I felt the presence of God was with me, holding on to me, sustaining me, giving me strength, comforting me”. Sometimes we feel alone … sometimes we do not know where God is. But remember, we are not alone God is always with us, He is at work, even when we can’t see Him, He’s holding on to us, and He won’t ever let us go.