How to Hold Fast to Jesus in a World That’s Spinning Out of Control

How can we hold fast to Jesus in world that feels unsafe and out of control?

This post is part of the Five-Minute Friday quick write hosted by Kate Moutang. Join us each Thursday night on Twitter (#FMFParty) for fun and fellowship, then grab a pen and start writing when the prompt goes live!

Hold Fast to the Shopping Cart

“What are you guys doing?” I asked my pre-teen daughters as I grabbed a shopping cart in Costco and started pushing it. It felt like someone had slammed the brakes on it. They both glanced down at their hands and laughed. They stood on either side of the cart, each gripping the side with one hand.

“Old habits die hard,” one said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Dad taught us to always hold fast to the shopping cart whenever we entered a store with him,” the other said.

I vaguely remembered Pedro telling me about his strategy when the girls were toddlers. “If I make them hold fast to the shopping cart,” he told me, “I don’t have to worry about losing them in the store.” I had laughed at the time and mumbled something about men and their inability to multi-task.

“Remember how Dad would let us ride on the outside of the cart in the parking lot?”

I nodded and shuddered. He didn’t just let them ride on the side of the cart, they would hold fast to the edge, and he’d shove them as the cart careened downhill towards our car. Both girls would cackle with glee as Pedro chased after the cart to catch it before it crashed into something.

“Yeah, he’d do that if we kept our hands on the cart inside the store.”

I struggled not to roll my eyes at the (in my humble opinion) dangerous reward. I laughed and reminded them, “Ya’ll have outgrown the need to stick close, so you don’t have to hold fast to the shopping cart. In fact, who wants to go find the Frosted Mini-Wheats, and who wants to find the peanut butter?”

When the World Spins Out of Control

So much seems wrong in the world right now, and I feel so powerless to do anything to make it better. I can’t stop the war in Ukraine. My efforts to promote civil discourse do little to stop the vitriol on social media.

Students I love make bad decisions, and I can’t seem to get them to understand the importance of considering the consequences before they act. I could easily spiral into hopelessness and despair.

But like my daughters, I learned at an early age to hold fast to Someone. I don’t get it right all the time, and I’ve spent time wandering and lost. But that urge to hold fast keeps me close to the only Solution I know.

“But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Joshua 22:5 NIV

Love God. Walk in obedience. Keep his commands. Hold fast to him. Serve wholeheartedly. Love others.

Not always in that order, but practicing those things keeps me from careening out of control. I hope I never outgrow my need to hold fast to Jesus.

Hold fast to Jesus. It's a discipline of obedience, faith, and hope that allows us to love and keep on keeping on. #fmfparty #holdfast Click To Tweet