Today’s theme is journey
Our lives are filled with so much longing. Many of us reading this have had a deep longing for God for most of our lives. We are not alone; indeed, so many – persons of all faith and even those without faith – hunger to see the face of God. The pangs of this hunger can sometimes overwhelm. “No one shall see my face and live,” says the Lord to Moses in Exodus 33. Must this discourage us along the way? Must we grow weary from running the race and fighting the good fight?
And yet, God seeks us as well. He is the great “hound of heaven,” the lover of our souls, the woman seeking the lost coin, the good shepherd in search of those gone astray, the father who runs desperately to meet his prodigal child. Must not he also grow weary? He wishes to find us and bring us home.
There is just so much mystery, is there not?
Life is a profound journey. Personally, if I might speak candidly this morning, I do not believe that I will ever finish this journey during my lifetime. I do believe, however, that in spite of this, the path I take is meaningful. Yes, in the face of all my brokenness, my sinfulness, my great lack of faith and all the doubts I must embrace, I wish to walk this path to the end. And my hope is, my innermost longing is, that God will keep his promise to me that some day, in some unknown way, I will see him face to face.
O God
lift the light of your countenance upon us
and grant us peace.
Amen.
“I know that my redeemer lives
and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.
After my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God.
I myself will see him – I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!”
(Job 19: 25-27)
