Some years ago, someone sent me this story, which illustrates this truth—God won’t let you go. Let me tell you it.

On a hot summer day in Florida, a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. He jumped into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was swimming toward the shore.

His father working in the yard saw what was happening, and in utter fear, he ran toward the water, yelling to his son. The little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his father. It was too late. From the dock, the father grabbed his little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs.

That began an incredible tug-of-war between the two. The alligator was much stronger than the father, but the father would not let go. A farmer happened to drive by, heard the screams, raced from his truck, took aim and shot the alligator.

Remarkably, after weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived. His legs were extremely scared by the vicious attack of the animal. And on his arms were deep scratches where his father's fingernails dug into his flesh in his effort to hang on to the son he loved.

The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, with obvious pride, he said, "But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too, because my Dad wouldn't let go."

You and I can identify with that little boy. We have scars, too. No, not from an alligator, but the scars of a painful past and present crises we may be facing. Some of those scars are unsightly and have caused deep pain or regret. But some wounds are because God has refused to let go. Amid our struggle, he's been there holding on to us.

God just won't let you go, no matter what you're going through. Think of Joseph. Through, no doubt, some childish bragging to his brothers, they decided to get rid of him, and sold him into slavery in Egypt. Joseph had done no great evil; he didn't deserve to be so terribly mistreated, but there he was, a slave and a prisoner in Egypt (Genesis 37-50).

But God never let go of Joseph, because Joseph never forsook his faith in Jehovah God. And he was used by God to deliver many people, including his own family, from starvation. I wonder how many times, as he sat in that prison, he just wanted to give up. It looked hopeless, but God didn't let go.

We have many wonderful illustrations in the Bible of how God didn't let go, even when his people foolishly waded into dangerous and sinful situations, sometimes out of ignorance, sometimes out of disobedience.

Think of Elijah. You remember the story found in 1 Kings 18, where Elijah challenged all the prophets of Baal, with great courage, and their pagan gods could not deliver them. Elijah triumphed over all that evil, proving that Jehovah God was the only true God. It was an incredible victory.

But the very next day, brave Elijah became a coward, fearful of one woman, Jezebel, who had threatened to kill him. He ran out of fear for his life. Elijah no doubt would have been diagnosed by doctors today as having a deep depression, even as being deluded, as he ran for his life.

But God didn't let go, and with great patience and kindness, he nurtured him back to strength, taught him some wonderful lessons, and brought him out of that deep funk an even better man of God—refined like gold.

Are you there? Has your faith failed you? Are you full of fear? Are you in that kind of deep depression where everything looks hopeless? Maybe you feel worthless, and you're sure that life is coming to an end—at least life with any meaning? The world around you is a mess, and that could cause you to be frightened and depressed. But I want to encourage you today to know God won't let go of you. He will patiently guide you back to wholeness, as he did with Elijah.

How did Elijah recover? He needed some rest and nourishment.