I’m sitting in my office today at a bit of a loss. The truth is, today has been a day of much loss, at least that is how it appears. In the last few hours I have gotten news of the loss of an election, friends that have lost jobs due to that election, the loss of hope for at least one in a dark situation, the loss of a month old child that had been battling illness and the new discouraging diagnosis for another child. In the midst of so many heavy moments has come, like a flood, another weight, that of God’s glory, His love and His complete knowledge of all things.
In Psalm 42 the Sons of Korah wrote about a similar season. They spoke to themselves, to their very souls as they cried out, “Why are you cast down, O my soul?” They even answered their own question, “my soul is cast down within me.” Honestly, so is mine. The election that took place yesterday, that would have taken a miracle to go in the way I hoped it would, I was prepared for that outcome but not the immediate loss of jobs that followed. I just can’t see with my eyes what the purpose or plan is right now. The month-old child that passed away this morning, I was praying for her, I knew her situation was serious, but just a few hours earlier all things were status quo, even a bit optimistic. The loss of hope for my friend, well, she could be one of the Sons of Korah today, her frustration is understood and in no way toward God. The unpromising diagnosis, it is like a kick in the stomach, not what I am praying for and not what I want the child or the family to endure. In the midst of all these things I cry out for those that are suffering, “God, their souls are downcast!”
The Sons of Korah did not merely write us a Psalm of discouragement or discontent. Their next words are: “Therefore I will remember You . . .Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; all Your waves and billows have gone over me.” At the depth of discontent came the depth of God’s presence. As the weight of discouragement fell, the weight of God’s love fell greater. At the moment of life’s most difficult news also comes God’s most perfect care. Could this be that moment that Job was in when He uttered, “He gives and He takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” I don’t believe that those words are a cry of surrender but rather a shout of truth. My soul is downcast and yet my spirit is full. My heart is heavy and yet God is near. My hope is challenged and yet my faith is strong. My circumstance is grim and yet God’s promise is sure.
In Jeremiah chapter 1 God told the prophet, “I am watching to see that My word is fulfilled.” I am devoted to a belief in God’s sovereignty. I believe He sees every sparrow fall and that His eyes are always on me. I believe that nothing happens out of chance but rather that “by Him all things hold together.” I also lean heavily on God’s words to Isaiah, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” God is not ordering eternity according to what I think or understand, hope or desire. He is doing what is eternally perfect and He is utterly in control. With that said, I must yield today to the God who loves me more than height, depth, length or width could ever contain. I must yield to the fact that God is not reworking His plans for our community due to last night’s election; that He is not scrambling to find jobs of influence to those that were laid off today; He is not unprepared to receive baby Phoebe nor is He not ready to give comfort, peace and love to her family; He is not angry or disappointed with my friend in despair, instead He is preparing a place, a moment, a flash of His glory to embrace her and remind her that He is with her; and He is not discouraged by the doctors reports but as He told Jarius when the servants reported that his daughter was dead, He is saying “Do not be afraid; only believe.”
I am overwhelmed today, but no longer by loss, I am overwhelmed by God. What a promise He gave to Jeremiah and that He gives to us, He is watching over His word to see that it is fulfilled. We are not governed by this world, by the circumstances we see, by the people around us and their decisions. We are affected by all those things but we are not governed by them, we are led by and cared for by the God of all things, the One who spoke all things into existence and walks among us in Spirit to lead, guide, protect and fulfill. He is watching His word, He is bringing His perfect plan to pass, and we can rest, obey, trust and sit under all of His waves and billows. He will not drown us in loss; He will revive us with peace, with truth, with hope, with life and with His presence. Please, today, don’t believe you are lost; don’t believe that loss has overtaken you. He is watching over His word and He will bring all of it to fulfillment; that is an unsurpassed gain.