Have you ever felt like your life was hanging by the thread? I know I have.
A few years back, I found myself at my wit's end. Having experienced layers of abandonment and betrayal from friends, I didn't know what to do. I didn't know where to turn. I was alone (or at least, it felt that way).
In those times, what can we do? Hold that thought.
As Grace mentioned in a previous post, although we've been a bit quiet recently, it hasn't been for no reason—we've been busy writing!
Here's another song that's emerged the last few months, called Hanging By A Thread.
V1
Healer of broken hearts Come and heal this broken heart Filler of hungry souls Come and fill this hungry soul PC And I know you’ll always be The One who stops and looks for me CH When the darkness closes in on me And the world is cold as it could be When my life is hanging by a thread, I hold on… 'cause it’s the hem of your garment V2 Savior of wayward lives Come and save this wayward life Teacher of better ways Come and teach me a better way BR All my life I’ve looked for life But then I found you I won’t let go because I know There’s none like you
This song draws its inspiration from one of my favorite stories in the gospels, found in Mark chapter 5.
Jesus is on his way to heal a prominent leader's daughter. She's in a dire situation, but her father's affluence, wealth, and status practically guarantee her the attention and care she needs. A crowd gathers as Jesus joins Jairus to go find and heal his daughter. Along the way, another woman begins to follow. Although left unnamed, verse 26 details her condition:
She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” (Mark 5:26-34)
What a beautiful story! A woman in pain, a woman in loneliness. Her thought is "If I can just get to Jesus, if I can just touch His clothes," and she works her way through this immense crowd, fighting her way through, and I just imagine that with this one. final. reach, she brushes his clothes… Then it says Jesus stops and asks the question, "Who touched me?’ I imagine her freezing in that moment—she’s doing her best to blend into the crowd—but Jesus will not let it go: “who. touched. me?” Eventually, she steps forward, likely shaking due to fear. According to Jewish law, she’s "unclean" (and she had the audacity to touch Jesus!) I mean, this is more than a Rabbi or even a Prophet; this is the Messiah, himself! What’s he going to say? What's he going to do? Jesus shocks the crowd. He looks straight into her eyes and he calls her: daughter. In other words, “Not only did I just heal your disease, but I’m also bringing you into my family.” Like this woman, for one reason or another, we find ourselves at times hanging by a thread. In those moments, what if, like this woman, we also chose to hold on? Perhaps that thread is from the hem of his garment. Hold on, my friend. Call out to him.
The One who did not stop looking for her has not stopped looking for you!
He loves you. He's for you. He's with you.
And he wants to make you new.
