Seeking Steadfastness
I visited several people on their lawns this past week and it was clear after the first two that I was going to be arriving way behind on the rest of my appointments. I just couldn’t get enough of spending time with you wonderful folks. It makes me wonder what re-gathering will look like. Will we all look up on Sunday afternoon around 3:00 and realize that hours have passed? The Church are most authentically ourselves when we are together, after all. That said, I think God has us all in the palm of his hand and in God’s economy nothing good is lost. This time will pass while God’s presence, grace, and love won’t.
When I went to the church to prepare for Sunday’s service, I saw my daughter’s teacher from last year leaving for the day. We caught up for a while (from at least 10 feet away) and while she was so disappointed to not get to spend the remainder of last year with her wonderful class, she was encouraging that Annie’s next teacher was going to be great for her. I often think we have the best teachers on our campus, but sometimes I am reminded that a large part of that is because of their compassion and care. She is right, these past few months hold numerous disappointments (and if college football is postponed so do the ones to come), but we will land with our God who continues to bless us with His grace. Hope is not lost. This world may not be what we want it to be (if it has ever actually fulfilled our desires), but our hope is not in the things of this world. Our hope is in the God of love made known to us in Jesus Christ and instilled in us through the Holy Spirit.
There is a quality I have always held true about God, but that has been coming up in my prayers more prominently lately: steadfast. God is steadfast which according to the thesaurus on my computer is synonymous with unwavering, resolute, loyal, and faithful. There is no better place to focus than on God who never waivers. The very constancy and consistency we seek can only be found in God. I pray that this is context for all the other noise and confusion that surrounds us in these times and this will bring steadiness to all of us in our anxieties, concerns, and fears. God will never fail you.
We love you and God loves you.