Hold On

I would much rather be cold than hot.
If you are cold you can always light a fire in the fireplace.
You can always wrap a blanket around you as you have a cup of tea.
You can always put on another sweater.

If you’re hot, there’s not much you can do.
Sit in the air conditioning or swim in a pool, if available.
You can only take off so many layers of clothes, as modesty dictates.
Even if you can deal with the heat, dealing with the humidity is another story.

I have always liked the seasons of fall and winter the best.
I feel more alive when it is chilly, even when it is cold.
It is the weather of choice for taking my walk.
It is the weather I would choose to live in most of the time.

It is completely opposite when I consider my hands.
My hands in icy water are very uncomfortable.
My hands in hot water feel wonderful.
The uncomfortable cold on my fingers causes me to remember a news story.

Back in 1982, on a snowy January day, Flight 90 left Washington, DC for Florida.
Snow and ice had accumulated on the airplane’s surfaces during a delay.
Even though the plane was de-iced, it was determined later that it was not done properly.
The ice interfered with takeoff and the plane slammed into a bridge.

The plane plunged into the icy Potomac River and only five people survived.
Two woman and three men.
Despite the snow that was still falling, a helicopter flew in to rescue those in the water.
The rescue of one woman in particular left an indelible impression on me.

The water of the Potomac was icy and the temperature was frigid.
The helicopter hovered and let down life preservers and ropes.
The instructions were to fasten the rope under their arms so they could be lifted.
One woman held on with her hands as she came out of the water.

The icy water caused hypothermia to set in.
She could not hold on.
She fell back into the icy water.
I remember watching in horror.

An onlooker on the bank of the river jumped into the icy waters and rescued her.
I remember thinking that I, like her, would never had been able to hang on to the rope.
The cold would have been too much for me.
I think of that whenever my hands are very cold.

I remember seeing the news after the crash.
One phrase was repeated over and over.
HOLD ON!
HOLD ON!

How appropriate for us to remember.
Not for icy waters, but for life.
HOLD ON!
Hold on to the promises of God.

Hold on when trouble swirls around you.
Hold on when problems seem insurmountable.
Hold on when the desires of your heart seem like they will never come to fruition.
HOLD ON!

Hold on with your pinky finger if you must!
JUST HOLD ON!
Even if you think the rope is not going to hold you, hold on anyway.
Don’t lose your grip, even for a second.

Take the time to look up at Who is holding the other end of the rope.
Look up and see the face of God.
If He is holding you up, you are held, you are safe, you are rescued.
Rescued from sin and death.

In those icy waters, the survivors could do nothing to save themselves.
Even the life preservers that were thrown into the water meant nothing.
Their fingers were too frozen to get a good grip.
Someone else had to do the holding; someone else had to do the saving.

I thought of the onlooker that jumped into the water to save the woman.
The onlooker who willingly experienced the cold and the pain of the frigid waters.
The onlooker who did all of this to save another.
The onlooker who did this without any regard to himself.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of His great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:1-9)

But God.
Because of His great love for us.
God sent His Son, Jesus to jump into the water.
God sent Jesus who willingly came down without regard to Himself to save another.

We are the ones He came to save.
We cannot do anything on our own.
We need our Savior, the Lord Jesus.

Lord Jesus, thank You for jumping into the water to save us.
Help us HOLD ON during those times when we have no strength.
Pull us out of the icy waters and bring us safely ashore.