Under you are the Everlasting Arms of Love

So much uncertainty. Global pandemics. Earthquakes. Wildfires. Floods. Wars. Refugees. Nations of people no longer willing to listen to each other. Political divides. Armed militias. Violence. Gangs. Drugs. Poverty. Addictions. Cancers. Hatred and defiance. Oppression and injustice. Road rage. Fear. Anxiety.

Where is God in all this?

I have five children. One is home with the Lord, safe in his care. Years ago, as I stood sobbing at his grave, I felt the tender arms of Jesus around me. He too was convulsed with sorrow.

Of my four children here on earth, two are going through very severe trials and tribulations. In both cases, they are victims of things beyond their control.

As I was praying, my prayer became a lament of complaint, like some of the psalms. I was crying out, “God, where are you? Why is this happening? Why do you not step in? I don’t understand. I don’t get it.”

As the inner child in me cried out, I felt as if strong loving arms lifted me up and held me close to the breast of God where I could feel the heartthrob of deity. A very soft and faint voice of tender love whispered, “I know. I know. I know you don’t understand. I know.”

It is in the fog of unknowing,

in the liminal space of not yet,

in the inextricable and ineffable absence of God,

that we learn to trust, connect, rest

sink into Love and find Shalom.