Hanging On By My Fingernails

I called a friend this week to check on him. He recently made a transition in his life and ministry. After decades of serving as a student pastor and over two decades in one church, he felt God's call on him to walk away from his comfort zone to start a ministry of planning youth camps and doing inner city ministry. He walked away from a steady salary, a comfortable home, and stable ministry for the unknown.

Before making this transition we talked extensively about living by faith. He asked me questions about living by faith. I told him of the necessity of taking extra faith vitamins but reading books and listening to messages to build his faith. I also warned him he would be tested. I counseled him that while the life of faith looks glamorous for those on the outside looking in, it is a tough journey testing  our resolve and what we believe about God. We have to trust God in the tough times and not give into doubt.

I had not talked to him in awhile until I phone this week. When I asked how he was doing he responded saying, "I am hanging on by my fingernails." As we talked further I got the picture of a man with feet dangling over a cliff hanging on desperately by this finger tips. He is in a desperate situation. He confessed that he is learning he has never truly had to live by faith before. He has no choice but depend on God now. He is desperate.

So are many of you. You too are hanging on by your fingernails wondering how you will make it over the next set of finical hurdles. Kids driving. Insurance payments. Car repairs. Unforeseen dental costs.  The financial burdens are oppressive and you are barely hanging on. You are desperate.

Some of you are barely clinging to your sanity. The mental battles are tortuous. The mental strain of coping with life can be crippling. Darkness sets in crowding out the light of hope. It may feel like you are barely holding on to your grip on reality.

Some of you are barely hanging onto a marriage that started with great promise but has ended in unmet expectations and shattered dreams. You still live under the same roof but you do not enjoy one another. There is no sizzle, no romance, little communication, and few snap shots of the heart taken while making special memories. At times you feel like the marriage will not survive. You too are barely hanging on by your fingernails.

There are a few of you reading this that are barely clinging to your faith. The lure of sin draws you further and further away from Christ. The temptation is so strong you feel powerless to resist. As you tumble over and over again into sin, then shame, followed by remorse and repentance you wonder if you will ever be free again. At times you feel like giving up on Jesus and giving into the path of least resistance. You feel like a hypocrite and cannot continue living the way you are. You are hanging onto your faith in Jesus by your fingernails.

I have a word of hope for all. God has not given us the spirit of shrinking back. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to persevere. [Heb 10:39] He gives us faith to persevere. He empowers us to not only hang on but to climb back on top and stand on solid ground. When we think we can't hang on another moment He gives us the endurance to cling tenaciously.

I wish I could tell my friend his difficult times will end soon. I do not know that for certain. What I can tell him is this. I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction out of the miry clay, and he set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord. [Ps 40:1-3]

While you are hanging on by your fingernails do not think God lets you go. If you are hanging on by all your strength remember this. God wants you to let go in trust. Rely on Him. Depend on Him. Rest in Him. Believe Him. Have confidence in Him. As you let go you will see God is there to catch you and to hold you. We were never meant to hang on by our fingernails. Our strength will fail no matter how hard we try and how determined we are.

If you are hanging on by your fingernails I want you to know God hears your cry. He can and will put your feet back on firm ground. In the meantime you have to do two things. You have trust Him. You also have to wait on Him. He is working even when it does not feel like it. If you are barely hanging on dig those fingernails into the promises of God and trust Him.