The Lord Never Stops Looking
In The Midst Of Isolation, The Lord Still Searches Us Out
by Eric Elkin
“My God! My God, why have you left me all alone? Why are you so far from saving me—so far from my anguished groans?”
The Weather Channel recently produced a fantastic video showing the impact of storm surge. A reporter stands in a computer-generated neighborhood. As the reporter speaks, the water levels around him start to rise. The video shows each level of storm surge and the challenges they present to people.
Experts monitoring Hurricane Michael were predicting up to a foot of rain and a storm surge over 13 feet. A report of this magnitude means very little to a person in the Midwest. However, the video reveals the absolute destructiveness of those figures.
The Associated Press reported Hurricane Michael was the third most powerful hurricane in U.S. history. However, the projected path of the storm also takes it right over the states still trying to recover from Hurricane Florence. The land in those states cannot absorb any more water. Even three inches of rain could prove destructive. It is easy to imagine people feeling abandoned as a result of these storms
“Love cannot remain by itself – it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action, and that action is service.”
Another story caught my attention yesterday while reading the news. On September 26, multiple law enforcement agencies conducted a one day sweep of Wayne County, Michigan in search of missing children. Law enforcement targeted 301 cases of missing children in the Detroit area. When the day’s operation was done, 123 missing children had been found and rescued.
The size of the operation was overwhelming. It was coordinated by the Detroit Missing Child Recovery Unit of the U.S. Marshals Sex Offender Investigations Branch. They were joined by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Michigan State Police and law enforcement officers from other Wayne County agencies.
A press release distributed by the U.S. Marshals office communicated one simple and clear point. "The message to the missing children and their families that we wish to convey is that we will never stop looking for you…”
These two stories capture the nature of Psalm 22. We all have moments in our lives where we call out, “My God! My God, why have you left me all alone?” These words are spoken when grief overwhelms our hearts, and we feel all alone. In isolation, we pray not to be abandoned by God.
The answer to these prayers comes in all kinds of forms. Sometimes it is law enforcement, sometimes its emergency services, other times it is a congregation, a minister, or a friend. The faces of the rescuers always change, but the source and message are still the same. The Lord will never stop looking for you.
Click to read Psalm 22
Reflection Questions:
When was a time you felt isolated and alone?
How did you cry out for help?
Who responded to your cry?
How does God respond to those in times of greatest need?
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