A friend told me on the day her mom went to Heaven, "I feel lost, so lost, but God keeps finding me." So, so true for all of us.............. I loved her mom, not in the same way my friend did, but I loved her because she was a woman who gave love freely, and my family and I had been recipients over many years of the love she so freely gave. And I grieved with my friend, and her words continue to echo. Even as she was losing her mom, I too was experiencing my own losses, my own good byes, my own significant life changes, and her words sent me to the God we both depended on. Oh, God, sometimes the world gets too heavy. Sometimes, even what is within the “normalcy” of a journey on this earth, even so, it reeks of craziness and discord and torn emotions. Oh God, I can’t do this by myself. Father, I need you, and I feel so lost. And I sense the aimless wandering in a place that seems to have no answers. And it is then that God finds me. And I know He never really “lost” me. The lostness was all within my own heart and thinking, but nevertheless, He breaks through my walls. He shreds the cocoon. And my eyes, my ears, my heart are open. And I see and am aware once more of the constancy of my loving, caring, compassionate, understanding, embracing God. And another friend reminded me, “We don’t show up, but Jesus does. He chases us .... and grabs hold.” I need the love my Jesus gives. I need His strength. I need His encouragement. I need His grace.
And I am mindful of the words from a song sung for decades upon decades by artists, congregations, and believers, alone in their heavy craziness, but watching God find them and growing their awareness as He unravels their cocoon. He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater, He sendeth more strength as the labors increase; to added afflictions He addeth His mercy, to multiplied trials He multiplies peace. His love has no limits, His grace has no measure, His power [has] no boundary known unto men; for out of His infinite riches in Jesus,
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.
He is my Shepherd who carries me, safe and secure within His arms, snuggled closely to His breast, close enough that I can feel the beating of His heart, a heart that cares and gives and loves. He empowers my weakness and strengthens me to walk the journey that is mine. Not a journey of loneliness, but a journey strengthened by His presence. He is the God of creation, of power, of a wisdom that even in its simplicity, if it could be simplified, exceeds any imagining I could have. And yet, this God, my God, the God of every believer, the God of the broken, the lame, the confused, this God – keeps finding us. And He gives everything that I need. Rest. Peace. Guidance. Protection. Comfort. Provision. Blessing – even if it seems life is tearing away all that is precious. And He will pursue me all the days of my life. He will keep chasing me. He will keep finding me. He will grab me. And He will never, ever let go.
– Bev
(Related Bible reading: Isaiah 40; Psalm 23)
