Holding On - The Brilliance

scripture and prayer reflection

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Lyrics

There comes a time in every life

We don't have the strength to know

In the night, I see the light

You know that I could never do this alone

I'm holding on to you

Holding on to you now

'Cause everything I know

Tells me this is true

I can't do this alone

There comes a fight in every life

That we don't have the strength to lose

Lay down my pride, I find that I

I could never own the truth alone

I'm holding on to you

I'm holding on to you now

'Cause everything I know

Tells me this is true

I can't do this alone

Oooh, I am giving up

Oooh, I am giving up

Oh, my love

John 6:48-51, 60, 66-69

48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”

66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

Hebrews 12:11-13

11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.

Reflection

When Jesus asks His disciples if they will also leave Him, they respond with the question “Where else can we go?” I remember a conversation with a friend several years ago where we discussed how difficult it was at times to feel content with what God had allowed and used in our lives, and the truth but also the potential pain in this question that the disciples ask.

The disciples in all likelihood didn’t like Jesus’ words about being the bread of life any more than everyone else. Being told they would have to eat His flesh was confusing and alarming, and didn’t fit with what they thought He was there to do. But in that moment, they had to decide whether to keep following Him or not, and they found that the cost of leaving was far greater than staying. Everything else the world had to offer was meaningless in comparison to being with Him. Staying meant having to lean into the discomfort of His words and try to understand what He meant. It meant letting Him be in charge, even when they didn’t understand and even when they didn’t agree. But the discomfort and the surrender were far better than life without Him, because of who they knew Him to be.

As followers of Jesus we can see how hollow and false other pursuits are — we know that money will never satisfy, that the people we love will at times let us down, that calamity can strike, that we can never fully control all aspects of life. Wrapping our hearts up in chasing entertainment or pleasure or success or wealth or human love doesn’t work because none of these things are truly ultimate and we know that we were made for the ultimate, for God. We know that nothing else will really satisfy. So even as we feel disappointed, confused, or hurt by God not doing what we had hoped or thought He would in our lives, the alternatives are far more bleak. It’s still better to be with Him and wrestle with what He is asking of us, than to put hope in the empty and false promises of the world. A hard truth that leads to life is better than a nice lie that leads to death.

Take some time to reflect on your own life. What is it that makes Jesus worth following? Does it feel easy or difficult to honestly say with the disciples, “You alone hold the key to true life”? Why is that? Pray that God would do whatever it takes to grow you into the person He made you to be, and ask for His help. How does it feel to pray this (exciting, frightening, challenging, heavy, joyful, ______________)? Talk with Him about what comes up.