I have come to understand that the darkness in the world is so great sometimes that we fail to stand on our belief about how great God’s love is for us. “Lord of all, of church and kingdom, in an age of changes and doubt, keep us faithful to the gospel; help us work your purpose out. Here, in this day’s dedication, all we have to give, receive; we, who cannot live without you, we adore you! We believe!” (God Is Here-526-Evangelical Lutheran Worship-Augsburg Fortress Press) We fall into the nooks and crannies where we think He isn’t alive, but that’s where we are wrong. In God’s ultimate act, He gave us His Son and allowed Him to own the cross, so that we could have a way to be with Him. With this act of unconditional love, we can know Christ’s love and bring His hope to this world that so desperately needs it. Being rooted in the Word, we have the power to grasp how wide and amazing the love of Christ is.
It is good to think about God’s amazing love for us when the world’s darkness seems to obliterate the sun’s light. God loved us when He made us into human beings. He chose us before we chose Him. He makes us whole by showing His forgiveness when we are broken, bitter, or blaming. He becomes our hope when we have no hope. He interrupts us so that we can see eternity when the cares of the world overwhelm us. He finds us by showing His mercy and justice in all things when we are lost. He gives us wisdom to realize that our disappointments can move us towards what He wants for us when our disappointments far outnumber our successes.
He knows the darkness can close off all avenues to His love because we are weak and cannot say, “No,” to a world that wants only secularism and no questions asked. He knows we walk in the desert for more than forty days and forty nights. He gave us His Son so that the darkness would leave and only His light would remain. He wants us to share His light and love so that those who do not know Him will be filled with the hope they need to come to Him. It is in the sharing that we grow to understand and trust that He, alone, walks by our side. The love of Christ will help us climb the highest mountains and ford the flooded plains of the world. “Knock, and it will be given unto you.”
Anna Hartt
