“Why would you ever complain, O Jacob, or whine, O Israel, saying “God has lost track of me. He doesn’t care what happens to me”? Don’t you know anything, haven’t you been listening? God doesn’t come and go. God lasts.” (Isaiah 40:27-28 MSG)
We lose track. We forget. We fall apart in purpose. Our God doesn’t. He is the I AM. Untired. Untried. Undistractable. Indestructible. All knowing and unfailing in His love for His people. He sees, He hears, He proceeds and He succeeds. We aren’t lost. We aren’t outside of His grip, set to wait without His care. No, He has a plan and He’s pulling it all together for His glory, which He’s more glad to share with His children.
“Who did this? Who made it happen? Who always gets things started? I’m God. I’m first on the scene. I’m also the last to leave.” (Isaiah 41:40 MSG)
I think this might be easier to see in Israel. Over there, everywhere you look, you see evidence of a faith story far more historic than your own. You realize that your individual belief in a Holy God is only one small thread in a great tapestry of people that has been painstakingly loomed for thousands of years. This realization is comforting. You are woven in, a small part of the collective of belief that existed long before your first breath. You see the beautiful collaboration of faith and add your small voice to it.
This world was in motion long before any of us got here. And, (apart from the Rapture) it will still be turning long after we leave. We lose sight of this: the fact that even Adam and Eve woke up to a world already spinning. We forget that the Lord has a firm grasp on everything that happens here. We can rest. We can trust. We can take Him at His word when He says He has this whole mess in His hands.
When we pastored, we were often the first to arrive before service. We turned the lights on, the heat up, got the sound board and computer ready for service. We were also the last to leave. We double checked everything on the way out; equipment power down, lights off, toilets flushed, doors locked. This is God’s role in our lives. He’s set this whole thing in motion long before we got here and He’ll shut it down after we leave. Our only aim in the interim is to obey and trust Him. That alone is enough to keep us pre-occupied for seventy or eighty years.
“I picked you. I hadn’t dropped you. Don’t panic. There’s no need to fear for I am your God. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you. I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you.” (Isaiah 41:10 MSG)
Lord, we have a strong tendency toward panic. How easily we forget that You set this whole thing in motion, that You don’t require our aid in keeping it going. Help us trust You today. Give us the grace to trust and obey. Amen.