09-23-25

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
September 23, 2025
What happens when something that seemed so far away from your family context, something so outside what you believed could impact you directly, ends up on your doorstep? It might be a frightening diagnosis, betrayal, change in relationship, addition to the family, death, layoff, or mental health crisis. There are those crises that were a long time in the making, something we could see coming from a fair distance. It’s not that those types of events are good, but often there is time to make ourselves ready. But when it feels so unexpected, the news is not only troubling, but the unforeseen nature of it feels like a sucker punch that leaves us stunned. Can we better prepare for the unexpected?

In Psalm 18:6, we read:

In my distress I cried out to the Lord;
   I called to my God for help;
God heard my voice from his temple;
   I called to him for help,
   and my call reached his ears.

I believe those words to be true, yet I have absolutely no proof. It is a statement of faith that emerges from a relationship with God. And like any good and healthy relationship, a person cannot wait until the unexpected occurs before strengthening the relationship. I’m not suggesting God will choose to ignore our cries if the relationship is not strong, but since it is an act of faith, if we have not developed a deep and abiding connection to God prior to the unexpected event that turns life upside down, then how are we going to trust that God will remain faithful? If you have no reason to trust someone, even if you imagine them to be trustworthy, will you trust them in a moment of crisis? It’s difficult to know for sure, but those who have intentionally worked to develop a relationship with God and have then deepened that relationship over time will find comfort and hope in the words of the Psalms.

You hear our cries, Merciful God, and we trust your hearing is full of compassion and concern. As your love is both endless and unconditional, we seek to fall more deeply into that love, learning to trust its immeasurable care for us and all the world. Amen.