Hold On

“Hold On’ - Reference photo and progression photos.

I’m always on the lookout for eye-catching reference photos. I’ve tried using free sites, but when I really want to find something special, I head on over to Shutterstock.com, one of my favorite resources for quality reference photos. When I find something I like, I purchase a license for it as a way to say “Thank you” to the photographer for providing a quality reference point for my drawings.

Earlier this year, while browsing through Shutterstock, I stumbled across a baby orangutan photo, and I fell in love. Below is the drawing I created from the reference photo.

I mean, what’s not to love?

Look at that goofy expression, the soft, baby fur, that tight grip on the rope. Doesn’t that image just tug at an animal lover’s heartstrings? It sure tugged on mine.

“Why not draw a baby orangutan?” I thought. After all, I have an artist friend who recently drew a portrait of an orangutan couple on their wedding day.

You heard me.

Orangutans.

On their wedding day.

I kid you not.

“Dirk and Buffy Get Hitched” - by Dolores Jensen

How fun is that?

So, I thought, “Why not give this perfectly primate pair a baby?”

Okay, that’s not really what I thought, but wouldn’t that be adorable?

However, I digress.

Perhaps the most compelling thing to me about the baby orangutan reference photo was the message it conveys. Phrases like “hold on” and “hang in there” spring to mind, carrying with them a message of hope, perseverance, and encouragement.

But, in a practical sense, HOW can we “hang on” when the car breaks down, when the job is lost, when the bills are overdue, when the cancer comes back, when the spouse walks out, or when the baby is sick?

How can we hang on? 

The answer: we can’t.

We can’t do life on our own.

We weren’t meant to.

The Bible says in Isaiah 41:13:

 "For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, 'Do not fear; I will help you.'"

I read that verse, and so many other verses in Scripture about God’s sustaining power and loving care, and I realize that as we live this life, hanging on through the ups and downs, what matters is WHAT we are hanging on to. 

"Hold On" - Final - Wildlife Whispers - 2026 Colored Pencil and PanPastels on Fabriano Acquarello Watercolour Paper - by Julia McFarland (Licensed Shutterstock Reference Photo by Eric Isselee.) 

So I ask, “What are you hanging on to?”

Are you hanging on to your plans? To your dreams? To your expectations? To your thoughts that aren’t necessarily based on truth? If you are, all of those things will fail you. They will give you a false sense of security and then drop you like a hot potato. I know because I’ve been there.

There was a season of my life when I was so busy “hanging on” to what I thought was best for me that I wasn’t listening to my Savior’s voice. I thought I was doing all the right things, but I found my wheels spinning, my mind racing, and my anxiety building.

In time, I reached the end of my efforts and found all of my strength was gone. And that’s where God met me. He now had my attention. And He lovingly showed me that I had been hanging on to MY plans and MY expectations - MY life - instead of letting it all go and holding onto HIM. It was a vital lesson that I needed to learn, and am continuing to learn day by day.

I’m a much calmer person now. When I hang on to the hand of the God who created me, His power flows through me and strengthens me. When I hang on to the hand of the God who knows my every thought and still loves me, I can trust His plans for me, knowing they are better than mine and will take me further than I ever dreamed possible. When I hold onto the hand of the God who willingly died for me because He wants to spend eternity with me, I can rest in that relationship that cost Him so much because I finally understand that it’s not really ME who is doing the holding on. It’s HIM. HE is holding me and has promised to never let me go.

I like to imagine that if we could see into the spiritual realm and all that is holding us together, it might look something like this…

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. - 2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)

(AI-enhanced image)

That’s a truth that we can hold on to.