“What’s in your Grip?” What are you holding on to? Funny, in my adult life I have heard the word, “grip,” countless times because of golf. Grip is EXTREMELY important to a golfer’s success. If your grip is too strong or too weak, it can do “ugly” things to your game. So a golfer has to pay close attention to how he grips the club.
In life, and all its outcomes, it boils down to how we grip and what we grip! If we chose to Grip Christ, it enables HIM to show up and show out in crazy ways. The only way we can GRIP the fullness of Christ is to, not only loosen our grip, but throw down our grip on our desires, our plans, and our dreams and surrender them to the Lordship of Christ.
There is nothing like a terminal diagnosis or a lengthy prison sentence (for one wrong choice or multiple ones) that can COLD TURKEY stop someone and make them take a lengthy look at to what and who they are GRIPPING! When life runs smoothly and things are peaceful, or relatively moving along a way that pleases, it is extremely hard to take notice of what we are “GRIPPING!” In fact, we can grip for a while until the unexpected happens. Sometimes we are given a lengthy chain and allowed to move along a path that seems fine and accurate. All the while, we are not focused on our “loose grip” which eventually gets looser and all of a sudden the “ugly” rears its head.
I like to think of the Christian who is not growing as much like a golfer with a “loose grip”. They have picked up the “Club of life” which is accepting Jesus but they choose not to HOLD ON. What I mean by this is that they treat their relationship with Christ casually, not really focused on who or what they are gripping. This would look like someone who talks a good talk but doesn’t walk it daily. To focus on the perfect “GRIP” WOULD MEAN Seeking Christ and HIS PERFECT WILL in their everyday lives. Listening to God wholeheartedly and not mixing self.
A person with a “STRONG GRIP” is one who is rejecting Christ and holds their OWN LIFE in their GRIP. They are being God in their own lives. They have no interest in the things of Christ or knowing Him. A strong grip in golf can and does lead to ALL KINDS of TROUBLE AND DISASTER. When we grip our lives, holding on tightly to our unchecked motives and desires with no dependence on God, we truly miss it!! We miss the “Game of all Games” which is a “life in Christ!”
I love the story of Moses. Moses was very comfortable with his STAFF which had protected him in the wilderness for years while he attended sheep. He was called by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. With the” burning bush” experience, Moses questioned God about his ability. God asked him, “What is in your hand?” in Exodus 4:2. Moses replied, “A Staff.” Then God told him to throw it down. When he did, it turned into a serpent. Moses was afraid and ran. God ushered him back and told him to “GRIP IT” by the tail. When MOSES OBEYED, the serpent turned back into the “the staff”. Please go to Exodus and read all of the story of Moses. Compelling is the word to describe it! The point I want to make is this: God is calling ALL OF US to a “burning bush” experience. He is asking all of us to “loosen our grip,” to “throw down whatever staff we are holding”. Not until we throw it down and surrender, can we pick it back up and use it (our lives) for God’s intended purposes.
What kind of grip do you have on your life? Is it too loose or too tight or “perfect”? WE can never truly experience the UNTHINKABLE, the UNIMAGINABLE, until we SURRENDER. We can never truly experience CHRIST while directing our own lives with either a really tight or really loose grip! WE have to focus on the “Provider of all the things we try to grip”. Let the Provider direct what we grip and how we grip. If you want a winning grip in the Game of LIFE, Grip Christ, nothing else.
Consider Proverbs 19:21, “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’S purpose that prevails.”
I Corinthians 2:9-10, “However, as it is written: ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’—the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.”