November 29 (Genesis 28:15)
For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.
(ESV)
Our son and I
were hiking in a sandstone canyon carved by the melting of glaciers in western
Indiana. I had pulled out my phone to
take a picture of one glorious scene when I surprisingly received a bit of
signal, and text messages started pinging through. My friend’s wife had just been diagnosed with
cancer.
It had been easy
to revel in the splendor of God’s creation and to feel His goodness and love as
we hiked the snow- and ice-covered trail beneath a brilliant, crisp, November
sky. But now? We stopped and prayed together for our
friends, but we before continuing on the trail, we talked about how some people
are crushed by the trials that come to all of us, Christian and non-Christian
alike, and how they can be led to question God’s love and even His
presence. I recalled this verse and others,
and we talked about the sureness of God’s care for us, even, or especially, in
moments when we do not feel it.
Illness. Accidents on the highway. Incurable diseases. Losses of any kind. Yes, we want to focus on Advent and the
approach of Christmas. There are lights
to be hung and holiday preparations to be made.
Yet the very reason we celebrate the birth of one baby in a way we
celebrate no other is because He was living proof of today’s verse. Is He the One you cling to when the twinkling
lights go out and the pains of life set in?
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