“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
Deuteronomy 31:8
Yeesh the world seems so broken lately.
It makes it so difficult to turn on the tv or open up any kind of social media.
Because if it’s not one thing it’s another.
Hate here.
Violence there.
Protests here.
Rallies there.
And no matter which side of any issue you are on, the message is clear:
Fear.
Be afraid.
Everything is going to pot and you should be terrified.
But the message of scripture is even more clear:
Do not be afraid.
Have no fear.
Fear not.
Over and over again, the Bible tells us that there is something more than fear.
In this passage from Deuteronomy, Joshua is reminded just who is in control.
Things might get bad – in fact, they probably will get worse.
But God is the alpha and Omega.
The beginning and the end.
And the bad things, the hate and violence and the fear do not have the final word.
God does.
God has the final word.
And what is it?
Do not fear – God is with you.
In the midst of chaos, in the midst of grief and anger and hate and fear, God is there.
God has joined us in the middle of it all.
And it is there, right in the thick of it, where God begins to create new life.
New beginnings.
Healing.
Peace.
Earlier this week, a local pastor posted this poem to her congregation and I wanted to share it with all of you to end the uplift this week. It’s just lovely and it’s an incredible reminder of God’s grace and blessings in all of our rough days and weeks, no matter what is happening.
Blessing When the World is Ending
Look, the world is always ending somewhere.
Somewhere the sun has come crashing down.
Somewhere it has gone completely dark.
Somewhere it has ended
with the gun,
the knife,
the fist.
Somewhere it has ended
with the slammed door,
the shattered hope.
Somewhere it has ended
with the utter quiet that follows the news
from the phone,
the television,
the hospital room.
Somewhere it has ended
with a tenderness that will break your heart.
But, listen,
this blessing means to be anything but morose.
It has not come to cause despair.
It is simply here because there is nothing a blessing is better suited for than an ending,
nothing that cries out more for a blessing than when a world is falling apart.
This blessing
will not fix you,
will not mend you,
will not give you false comfort;
it will not talk to you about one door opening when another one closes.
It will simply sit itself beside you among the shards
and gently turn your face toward the direction from which the light will come,
gathering itself about you as the world begins again.
—Jan Richardson
from Circle of Grace