trust

The Hand that Holds You Up

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Nothing in this world compares to the comfort and security of having someone just hold your hand. – Richelle E. Goodrich

Life is unpredictable. One moment you are high up in the clouds, free, and in love, and the very next moment, you are lying face down on the ground from a blow to the head you didn’t see coming. You are left completely blind sighted, with a broken heart, and shattered dreams. It’s quite possibly the darkest moment of your life.

I know this because I was just there seven short days ago. I did not think I was going to make it, but by the grace of God I did. Fortunately, I had a women’s retreat previously scheduled tucked away in the Smokey Mountains in Gatlinburg TN. The solitude, the seclusion, and the support of Godly women were exactly the medicine I needed to soothe my broken heart. I took that time to grieve and just be.

Time moved on and now I find myself fully standing on my own. In looking back, I can clearly see God’s provision in this trying time. I know without a shadow of a doubt that God knew this attack would come. The night before this all happened, I felt His peace wash over me. It was the peace that kept me moving, dragging forward. He sent me the truth in the words of a song, in the words of a friend. If I needed to grieve and fall completely apart, He just let me be. Once I cried out for that peace again, He swiftly came to my side. He was the hand that held me up.

Through this song by Shane Harper, Hold You Up, I am reminded that there will be times when the world breaks us and we honestly don’t know how we will be able to go on. God will usher in during our time of need and hold us up until we have the strength to stand again on our own.

Wherever you are at this very moment, God is right there waiting to take you by the hand and comfort you during this difficult time. He will never leave your side. He will carry you through to the other side. I assure you. I would not be sitting here typing out these very words without that very hand keeping me together. Take comfort in knowing that you are not alone and someone out there is thinking and praying for you. And remember this, God will not allow pain without allowing something new to be born (Isaiah 66:9).

I’ll see you on the other side.

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Trusting Love

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Our anxiety does not come from thinking about the future, but from wanting to control it. – Kahlil Gibran

We make investments every day. We invest our time and emotions in relationships, we invest our commitments, our dedication to our jobs, and we invest money into our 401K plans.  Whether it is love or respect, advancements or pay raises in our careers, and large retirement funds, we invest because we expect a return.

A recent turn of events led me to check my portfolio in a relationship that is fairly new. I felt as if I was investing more than what would be returned to me so I checked to see what kind of return was in store. This all stems from fear and the need for control. Every fiber in my being wants to control this relationship. I need to define it. I need to label it. I have to or it will end.

In my quest to define this relationship and protect my investments, I decided to set some boundaries. My cousin, Shelly, told me to read the book Boundaries by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend. This book teaches you how to say no, when to say yes, and how to take control of your life.

The passage in the section of “Friendship Boundaries”, changed my life. The authors describe boundaries as this,

Boundary conflicts in friendships are difficult to deal with because the only cord tying the relationship together is the attachment itself. There’s no wedding ring. There’s no job connection. There’s just the friendship – and it often seems all too fragile and in danger of being severed.

So, aren’t friendships at greater risk of breaking up when boundary conflicts arise? This type of thinking has two problems.

  • First, it assumes that external institutions such as marriage, work, and church are the glue that holds relationships together. It assumes that our commitments are what hold us together, not our attachments. Biblically and practically, nothing could be further from the truth. 

Choice and commitment are elements of a good friendship. However, we can’t depend on commitment or sheer willpower, for they will always let us down.

  • The second problem with thinking that friendships are weaker than institutionalized relationships such as marriage, church, and work is assuming that those there aren’t attachment based. If it were true, wedding vows would ensure a zero percent divorced rate.

It’s scary to realize that the only thing holding our friends to us isn’t our performance, or our lovability, or their guilt, or their obligation. The only thing that will keep them calling, spending time with us, and putting up with is love. And that’s the one thing we can’t control.

At any moment, any person can walk away from a friendship. However, as we enter more and more into an attachment-based life, we learn to trust love. We learn that the bonds of a true friendship are not easily broken.

There it was. The truth in black and white text glaring at me. I was so concerned with the external attachment – commitment – than the actual attachment itself – love.  I kept thinking, if I could just grab a hold of the external attachment, then I could let go – give myself fully to the relationship. That verbal commitment would be the glue that would keep us together forever.

As I threw myself into this book, I realized that I was creating boundaries that closed me off and protected me in an unhealthy way. I created boundaries around my words. If I say this, or say that, he will leave. I created boundaries around my heart. If I love like this, or love like that, it will scare him and he will leave. It’s not that I don’t trust my friend. It’s that I don’t trust love. Love has failed me over and over again. Love has let me down. Love has crushed me. When it was supposed to protect me, it ended up hurting me.

As it turns out, I didn’t receive the commitment I was looking for from him, but I decided to move forward in the relationship anyway. He is my best friend and I cannot see life without him. Besides, what do I have to lose? Love is the return. Love is costly, love is risky, but it is truly the best return you can ever receive.

Love is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by the grace which both partners ask, and receive, from God. – C.S. Lewis

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