Davon Huss tells the amazing story of a boy who lived in South Florida who came home one sticky, hot afternoon to take a cool swim in the pond behind his home. The water seemed so inviting that he raced for the pond without going inside the house, simply dropping his shirt, shoes, and socks along the way. His mother spotted him jumping off the dock and went outside to check on him. As she watched her son swim toward the middle of the lake, to her horror, she spotted an alligator moving from the far shore toward him. She began screaming to her son to return to the dock, and just as he reached her, the alligator reached him. What ensued was a tug-of-war from a mother’s worst nightmare. From the dock, she pulled his arms. From the water, the alligator held his legs. The water turned red with blood.
Thankfully, a farmer driving by heard the screams and ran to help. He shot the creature and helped the mother by calling the emergency services. The boy survived, and after several weeks of hospitalization, he was ready to talk to a news reporter. The reporter asked the child if he could see where the alligator had bitten him. With the typical pride of a boy, he showed off his war wounds to the interested reporter. “But wait,” said the boy. “Look at these!” With that, he showed the reporter the scars on his arms. “I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my mom wouldn’t let go.”
In reading this amazing story, we as Christians are reminded of an even greater truth: that God, in Christ, holds on to our lives with a love that will not let us go. In Romans 8:31–39, we believers are taught that God loves us in Christ—always has and always will. God’s love for us is everlasting and enduring (Jer. 31:3). Here is “chicken soup for the soul.” Given our election by sovereign grace (Rom. 8:29); given our effectual calling through the gospel (Rom. 8:30); given our justification and perfect standing before the throne of heaven (Rom. 8:31–33); and given our guaranteed future glory (Rom. 8:30), it is unimaginable that anything or anyone could ever separate us from the grip of God’s grace or from the love He has for us in Christ. We are eternally secure. We are forever loved. Nothing will sever our union with Christ.
In the words of David Jeremiah, paraphrasing the words of Paul in Romans 8:38–39, “Not the crisis of death or the calamities of life. Not the intervention of angels or the intrusion of demons. Not the cares of today or the concerns of tomorrow. Not the pinnacle of heaven or the pit of hell. Not anything mighty, nor anything made” shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.
Whatever tug-of-war you are in—whether it is death tugging at you through sickness, whether it is Satan tugging at you through temptation, whether it is your enemies tugging at you through persecution—God has got you firmly in His grip (John 10:28).
Remember, as Spurgeon notes, “God soon turns from His wrath, but He never turns from His love!”