God does not lose us

21Aug
I have said to the Lord, "You are my God; 
listen, O Lord, to my supplication.” -Psalm 140:6 (Psalms 140, 142)

They (Job’s friends) sat with him on the ground for seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great. -Job 2:13 (Job 2:1-13)

Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. -Acts 9:8 (Acts 9:1-9)

And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day - John 6:39 (.John 6:27-40)


I cannot help but hear today’s readings together. They seem to speak more powerfully as one voice than any single verse standing alone.

In today’s Office, the prayers and readings meet us in places of fear, weakness, and uncertainty.


Job sits in ashes, stripped of every illusion of control. The psalmist cries, “I pour out my complaint before him,” and turns his eyes toward God. Saul, so certain of where he is going and what he is doing, is suddenly stopped in his tracks by Christ. He begins the journey to Damascus with power and purpose and ends it blind, being led by the hand.


And then, in the Gospel, Jesus gives us a promise that holds all of this together: it is the Father’s will “that I should lose nothing” and “raise it up on the last day.”

Maybe that is the word for us today. 


There will be times when we are brought low. Sometimes by suffering we did not choose. Sometimes because the way forward is no longer clear. And sometimes, like Saul, because God interrupts the certainty with which we have been moving through life.


In those moments, Scripture does not ask us to pretend to be strong. It gives us permission to cry out, to wait, and to place ourselves in God’s hands.

We may lose many things. We may even, for a time, lose our sense of who we are or where we are going.


But Christ promises that God does not lose us.

The hardest moments do not get the last word. God does.

And God’s final word in Christ is not despair, but life.


Musical Reflection - Mahalia Jackson - Take My Hand, Precious Lord


Gracious God, when the way is uncertain and we cannot see what lies ahead, take us by the hand and lead us. Remind us that whatever we may lose, we are never lost to you. Amen.

Fear

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