I Will Never Leave You

Today's devotion comes from our Office Manager, Kay Stadlmeir.  Kay is a faithful disciple of Christ who is such a great help to me.  Kay is a great thinker and when we brainstorm together, great things happen.  Kay is the pleasant voice you hear when you call the church and the author of the pleasant words you read when you email the church.  Like many, her job as the Office Manager here at the church has only gotten harder during the pandemic, but she never loses her love for God's people and Christ's holy church.

Reverend Dave
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During a recent conversation with a friend, she said, “I’ve been crying a lot lately.  I think it’s COVID fatigue.”

She’s not wrong.  Actually, I believe that many of us are dealing with COVID+.  No, COVID+ isn’t a new variant of the virus.  COVID+ is COVID plus everything else in life.

You see, COVID happened to us in early 2020 and continues through today.  It’s a big deal.  It has changed how we live our lives.  We see and do everything now through COVID lenses.  However, just because that one very big thing happened doesn’t mean everything else stopped.  No.  We still have other things to think about, handle, and sometimes even suffer through.  Life is still happening all around us, often at break-neck speed.  It all piles up on our shoulders, and COVID is the whipped cream and cherry that got placed on top.

We still have children who scrape their knees, catch colds, and develop ear infections.  We still have babies being born and elders passing away.  We still hear of some friends getting married and others divorcing.  We still stub our toes, lock ourselves out of the house, and burn dinner.  We still have all of the rest of life happening all around us, and some of the normal things of life are not fun.  So, we have to keep going and doing, plus we also need to deal with the pandemic as we go.  You know what?  That’s a lot.  It truly is.

However!  We have several promises in scripture that we can turn to.  Here is one from Romans 5:

“… we know that suffering produces perseverance;
perseverance, character;
and character, hope.”

Does this mean that we’re a bunch of characters?  Maybe.  But if we are, then we are a bunch of characters who are learning how to persevere through difficult times.  We are learning that we do have hope.  We have the hope of God, made flesh in Jesus Christ, and living in us via the Holy Spirit.  We have a God who has promised to never forsake us, because that very God lives within us.  Actually, I just did a quick Google and found seven different places in the Bible where God specifically said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Are you feeling overwhelmed?  Do you feel that if One More Thing happens, you don’t know how you’ll handle it?  You are not alone.  You are never alone.  We have a God who has promised, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

- Kay Stadlmeir