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This is the daily devotion from the book, “Holding On and Letting Go” and the companion audio from the July 7, 2021 live social media broadcast of encouragement and prayer by Impact Prayer Ministry’s director, Tom Lemler.

Here is day three and an important reminder to not forget the things you still have.

Hold On To What You Have

“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
(Revelation 3:11)

What do you have?  How difficult is it to answer that question?  Why?  In your current situation, do you tend to think more about what you have lost or about what you still have?  Why?  I don’t know what you have lost in this current crisis.  Perhaps finances, health, trust, peace of mind, freedom of activity, or an entire list of other things may have disappeared in the midst of the chaos surrounding us.  Even if it seems you have lost everything, how focused are you at holding on to faith?

One of the most difficult things for many people to do in the midst of loss is to see what they haven’t lost.  Our mind gets so focused on the disaster we faced that we become blinded to the things we still have.  As we discussed earlier, one of those things should be the people God will bring into our life to provide help and comfort.  The old hymn that says, “Count your blessings, name them one by one”, may sound trite when recovering from a disaster, but taking inventory of what you do have really is a good practice at any time.  When we begin to count more than possessions, we often find much that is within our grasp to hold on to that should give us at least glimmers of hope.  For most of us, there seems to be something within our nature that longs to possess things that we can call our own.  Even the most open and sharing child seems to learn how to say “Mine!” all on their own.  So as you do inventory of both the tangible and intangible things that you still have, find hope as you hold on to the things you have and especially to the things that can never be taken from you.

As you pray, ask God to help you grieve what you have lost even as you identify what you still have.  Pray that you would find hope and comfort through holding on to relationships that continue in the midst of your chaos.  Pray that your time of inventory would help you discover important things that God would have you hold on to.  Pray for the courage to hold loosely even as you hold on to what you have.

In prayer,
Tom