HOLD FAST…
Stress, uncertainty, and powerlessness are uncomfortable to say the least. How do we cope well and accept what is out of our control and beyond our knowledge to understand? One of the most helpful things for me is to reflect, remembering the trials I’ve passed through behind me. Can you remember a time God helped you, rescued you, saved you when you had nothing left you could do for yourself? I have a lot of war stories of situations that looked hopeless without an end in sight; near misses of car accidents that should have taken me out; impulsive risky decisions that could have ended tragically; times of betrayal or deception I didn’t think I could bear; health problems I overlooked that could have been my last. I’ve got stories… mileage… experiences of getting through stuff in ways that I couldn’t have imagined… but God helped me. He is and has always been faithful to help me through trials, sickness, heartache and regrets. I don’t know how He will help you through the struggles you’re in, I just know He will. Call His Name – I triple dog dare you! Jesus loves to confirm who He is and the power He alone holds when we sincerely want to know. Seek Him and hope in His love for you – He will come when you call Him and lead you through the trials you are in.
Deuteronomy 10:20 says, Fear the Lord your God and serve Him. Hold fast to Him and take your oaths in His Name. He is your praise; He is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes.
Hold Fast
hold fast implies unity- like between husband and wife; like Ruth held onto Naomi
in Ruth 1:14 Naomi was leaving and telling her daughters in law to return to their own families… At this they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother in law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.
we too can cling to Jesus now.
2 Corinthians 4:8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body…. 14…we know that the One who raised Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in His presence… 16 …therefore we do not lose heart…
We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. but this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us… 1 Corinthians 1:8-10 
Depending on ourselves to try to solve our problems, understand calamities, or change ourselves is exhausting and unproductive. Its His heart for us to want to empower us by His love to do these things. He bears the weight and strengthens us to move through and not only solve problems but receive unexpected blessings because of them. This is when we start to really live life and overcome the death and despair of hopelessness.
Deuteronomy 30:20 …Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him. For the Lord is your life…