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Writer's picturePrairie City Christian Reformed Church

It's Just a Thought, September 9th

Psalm 22:19 - “But you, O Lord, be not far off; O my strength, come quickly to help me.”

All of us go through ups and downs in life. There are times when God feels distant,

absent almost. The Psalmist eloquently describes some of those times in his own life.

But few, if any of us have actually experienced a life completely devoid of God’s

presence. I think God is constantly at work in our world, managing, limiting, enabling,

protecting, fulfilling. In truth, a world without God’s influence and involvement is

terrifying to contemplate. Without God setting the boundaries for evil (see Job 1:12;

2:6) the unrestrained chaos and suffering that would result would destroy not just

humankind, but the entirety of Creation.

Because we’ve been spared the experience of a world truly devoid of God’s presence,

we tend to take it for granted this is the way things are and suspect when things take a

turn for the worse, that God has left us.

It’s just a thought, but I wonder if hell isn’t a place where God isn’t – at all. A place

where love, hope, mercy, forgiveness, good, peace, things we need to survive, are not

simply in short supply – they just don’t exist. And, things will never get better there.

It might then follow that heaven is a place where God is. Heaven is a place where evil is

not, not even a little bit. No darkness, only the bright day of God’s presence. Devoid of

hatred, envy, jealousy, despair, and death. And it will never get worse.

It is interesting that on the Cross, Jesus chose only one passage of Scripture to

reference: Psalm 22. He quoted the first few words which would have directed his

listeners around the Cross to the whole passage. “My God, my God, why hast thou

forsaken me?” The next few lines clearly are speaking prophetically about the

crucifixion even though David probably didn’t know it. Jesus was suffering greatly and it

seemed as though God was nowhere near to help him.

And then in verse 19 the Psalm makes it clear that even though at the moment it felt like

God was absent, the writer was confident that God was indeed actually nearby.

It’s just a thought, but whatever you are going through, even if it feels like you’re going it

alone – God is not far away. What Moses told Joshua is still true for us today:

(Deuteronomy 31:8) “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will

never leave you nor forsake you; Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

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