Relationships are vital to the human race whether they be between a man and woman, a parent and child, an employer and an employee, a pastor and his church congregation, a woman and her friend, etc. The list could travel beyond the horizon. Our daily lives are surrounded by relationships. We have been created to exist as relational beings. That just happens to be a fact of life. Even the most isolated hermit crab will need companionship eventually. Twenty-three and a half years of life is how long God chose to wait until the appropriate time to teach me a vital truth in my relationship with Jesus! Is that a long time? When weighing time I cannot view the span on earthly scales, but rather try to ask for a glimpse on the scales of eternity! To witness this truth earlier would have been a blessing I was not yet prepared for. In God's infinite mercy, the cobwebs of my heart were cleared and the wellsprings of Life began to take effect!
How many times in relationships have you been told or have been the one doing the telling, "You are so clingy!" I have been on both sides of the spectrum and neither do a heart any good. To define 'clingy' I like on of the definitions of Mirriam-Webster: "to remain or linger as if resisting complete dissipation or dispersal." That is some intense clinging going on! Many times the clinging comes from a desire to be accepted by another, to receive deep emotional fulfillment, and to answer questions from our innermost parts through the relationship. I have ran after relationships (particularly with the opposite sex) in hopes that Brittany La Shae Walker would be in need of nothing. That once I found what it was I was looking for everything would fall neatly into place and my life could begin. O dear! Do you think the end result flowed with beautiful fragrances such as buttercups and spices?! I think not! Those individuals I sought after and clung to with all my might hightailed it out of my life and I was left standing amid the dust and confusion. What is wrong with me Lord? Why am I different? Everyone else around seems to succeed in relationships and mine tend to break not just once but again and again.
Thankfully, when you ask God for answers He shows up in a mighty way! He will not leave His children in the ashes, but shows them understanding when seeking! He pointed me to a verse in Jeremiah where He is threatening impending doom on Judah and Jerusalem. They have turned their hearts away from God and have set out to worship false idols. When reading the Bible, I firmly believe it is ALIVE! Jesus was and is the Word! That is the beauty of scripture, I can insert my name when God is speaking from His heart and that is how I grow closer to knowing and seeking God's heart!
"As a loincloth clings to a man's waist, so I created Judah and Israel to cling to me, says the Lord. They were to be My people, My pride, My glory--an honor to My name. But they would not listen to Me."~Jeremiah 13:11
So replace Judah and Israel with your name! Ah!!!! Did you catch that?! We were created to be clingy!!! That character trait is not abnormal! We are not weird, at least not in that sense! :) However, we weren't meant to cling to anything or anyone other than God and to know God is to know Jesus Christ! He is Life itself! "I am the Truth, the Way, and the Life!," says Jesus. Honey, we are commanded to be clingy! How liberating to know that grasping the God of the Universe is required for our daily lives! Have you counted the stars and wondered how they just suspend in air all on their own? Or how a ball of fire rises every morning and illuminates the sky? We aren't clinging to a dead deity but the God of Heaven's Armies who raised an innocent man from the dead, Jesus Christ all so we can walk in freedom every day of our lives if we believe! I don't know about you but when I cling to earthly things they will slip out of my hands. These things weren't meant to last.
As for me, I learned the reason I could never attain the relationships I wanted to cling to was because it scared the life out of the recipient! That is a tall order to satisfy Brittany La Shae Walker and I only know one man who can, Jesus! It scares them because mere humans weren't created to deliver that kind of satisfaction. They are dealing with their own bouts of insecurities. How in the world is a broken person going to answer the needs of another broken person?! We are all walking through the same day and the only way we will break free of the need to cling to those around us is to cling to the One who offers life and not only life, but life abundantly!
"The Lord says, 'I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.'" ~Psalm 32:8
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