Hosanna Restoration Church

If you looked at the title of this writing and thought it might have instruction on handling the clingy child, I hope you will not be disappointed! As a rule, clingy children tend to frustrate those who deal with them. Parents feel like they can’t get anything done with a child clinging to them. Then there is the embarrassment when the child will throw a fit rather than let someone else hold them for a while. Every parent has been through a variety of experiences with a clingy child and the last thing we have probably considered doing is learning from them! Perhaps today we will! It has been my experience that God will use anything and everything to teach us if we will only open our hearts and receive it. I know other translations say to hold fast, but I like the challenge to cling to Jesus.

The clingy child holds on tight to their parents because they trust them. This trust makes them feel secure and they are not about to give up their hold on security. It is amazing how strong the smallest child can be when you are trying to pry them away from their parent. We bribe them, threaten them and at times we resort to promises that border on lying, just to convince them to let go.

Just imagine what it would be like if we were to cling to Jesus with that same determination. What if we would hold on and refuse to let the devil pry us way? What if we refused to believe the bribes and lies he tells us? Unfortunately we are often guilty of clinging to other things instead, and refusing to let go of them while the Lord is standing there telling us the truth with His arms open wide to hold and help us.

What is it that we cling to? Sometimes we cling to fear! We fear that we won’t have enough, so we can’t give like we should. We fear that someone else might do better than us so we won’t help a fellow worker. We fear that God won’t do what He has promised so we cling to what we can see rather than what we know by faith.

There are also times when we cling to what we have known, when deep down we sense that God is showing us something new. Often time’s clingy children will miss great blessings because they just will not let go. How many blessings have we missed by failing to let go and trust Jesus?

So what can we learn from the clingy child? We can learn how to hold on tight to Jesus and never stop trusting Him. Don’t let anything pry you away. Don’t believe any lie that that the devil tells you to get you let go of the truth. We can also learn not to cling to the wrong things and to listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit so that we do not miss what the Lord has for us. May we all become clingy children of God that never stop trusting Jesus.