Clinging to God (EJstrong)

The Standard October 21, 2021

Imagine if you had a five-year-old child who had been in the hospital for over two months and how dramatically that would change your life. You never would want to leave their side. Of course, almost any parent would be determined to keep close to them as much as possible. This is the reality of the parents of EJ, whose oldest child was registered to begin kindergarten at H.B. Sugg Elementary School before their lives were turned upside down. His mother was injured in a car accident and soon afterwards EJ got COVID-19. He then developed a rare, serious complication called MIS-C (multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children) along with infections around his heart and leg. Both of his parents are clinging to God as they and people of faith in eastern North Carolina and beyond have been crying out to God for EJ’s healing.  

In the Hebrew Scripture the verb “dabaq” means to cling or to cleave or to stick like glue. Perhaps the most familiar use of this is in Genesis 2:24 which the King James version translates as, “Therefore, shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”

As the eastern tribes of Israel were about to return to their homeland and then as a farewell address to the leaders of Israel, Joshua left the Jewish people with important guidance. “Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Joshua 22:5)  “Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left, that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them, but you shall cling to the Lord your God just as you have done to this day.” (Joshua 23:6-8)

There are days when we are more aware of our total dependence on God and our need to cling to him. Jesus taught us to love God above all else because he first loved us and always has cared about every aspect of our lives. Let us cling to God each day, as we pray for EJ and others who are desperate for that which only the Lord can give.

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So, I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So, I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.”  (Psalm 63:1-8)