In the grip of grace!

I was enjoying a quiet sit on a raft kind of day yesterday.  I was laying in a raft on Table Rock Lake, soaking up some sun rays along with some quiet moments.  As I was floating around I decided to tie myself to the dock, so that I wouldn't just float away and end up on the other side of the lake somewhere.   I gripped on to a rope that was hanging nearby.  As I gripped this rope, I found myself thinking about how I grip onto Christ, that this rope was somehow my lifeline to Him.  When the waves would come and rock my raft I hung on tighter.  I found this as a metophor for life as well.  But as I was gripping, I heard God break through into my thoughts and He said you don't have to worry, I'm gripping onto you much tighter than you are gripping onto me. He reminded me that it's not my grip that counts, but His grip that holds me.  I'm in the grip of His grace, His love, His hold on me.  What a great place to be, when your life raft seems to be floating away somewhere into obscurity.  You wonder during the hard moments, if you matter at all to God.  You wonder if all that you've done and or prayed for, if God even heard those cries.  He does and He continues to hear.  Thankfully it's often in the wilderness places that He shows Himself faithful.   Maybe it's the wilderness that He uses to remind us that He's got a tighter grip on us than we could ever have on Him.