This world isn’t lost

The Consoler, by Carl Bloch

Day Seven in our search for God in the public square…

Why are we focusing within if we’re searching for God in the public square? Are we capable of finding God out there if we cannot find God within?

I wonder about those responsible for the image of God in the public square. I wonder because I see a God who has forfeited the world, right? We’re depraved — not just deprived. The world is wicked, and, oh, we just need one glance to confirm it! See the wars, the famines, the mean people! We must put our sights on heaven because down here? Well, this is Satan’s ground.

Just what God do these people know?!

The God I know slips into our suffering, using it to forge muscle, increase wisdom, show the way out. Even as the abuse continued, I experienced God’s promise, a promise perfectly described by Julian of Norwich’s words: All shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.

This world is not lost. It is God’s, and God has no intention of allowing Satan to have the upper hand, even when we give it to him.

The voice of God within you is the force urging you to keep looking, to doubt the deprivation talk, and to take your place with God in the coming of the Kingdom. God is bringing it, and we’re supposed to be helping.

Reflection

Just where is God’s work of salvation if not within each of us? And, once we tap into this, how can it not impact our public square for the better?

Prayer

Dear God, if I am entertaining doubt, fear, and any semblance of despair, then I know I am not in touch with You within! Help me to cast these aside and listen! Hope, confidence, and receptivity feed me well. Embracing these, I find my true self because I find You. Amen.