Without the hope and trust that God is actually still sovereign in the day to day realities of our world, we could easily descend into despair, worry, fear and discouragement. There are so many stark situations all around us that makes it easy for us to lose sight of the beautiful things in life. Granted, we live in a really broken and, at times, evil world. From the terrorist attacks that dot the globe, to the insidious presence of illegal drugs that haunt our young people, to the unsettling poverty in our urban and rural communities, to marriages and families that are torn to shreds, to white collar crime in the boardrooms of many companies… it all can all be very disappointing to say the least.
However, at the same time, there are not only glimpses of beauty all around us, but that beauty is like a landscape spread out across the horizon of life. Sometimes it’s nature in all of its spectacular hues of autumn, sometimes it is the intangible truths of mathematics that finally make sense, but always it’s the men, women, young people and kids who are the containers of the image of God. We are the ones who have had life breathed into them by the majestic God of the universe. We are the pinnacle of His creativity and of His compassion. We are the ones He has shared responsibility with for overseeing all the rest of creation. We are the ones whom He has given the job of humbly offering mercy and justice to those around us. We are the ones who have the privilege of knowing God personally and profoundly.
Wow!!! Each and everyone of us is of immeasurable value……and yet we devalue one another in our hearts. We avoid those who are navigating the last laps of life. We dismiss those who have not taken their first breath outside the womb yet. We ignore those who have been relegated to the ‘shadows’ of life; the sick, the homeless, and the disabled. God has never and will never avoid, dismiss or ignore. He is the champion of the disenfranchised. As His people, we are called to join our champion in caring for each and every person around us. We are called to love the expressions of life in every person, no matter what their plight happens to be.
We are called to love LIFE!!!
Kevin