We Can Be at Peace
So, I don’t know about you, but often when I read or hear scripture passages like this one, I tend to unintentionally gloss over the finer details of what’s being said. The Bible has a lot of readings that follow a pretty similar line of “God’s so great, and so’s everyone who’s following him, sing praise, etc.,” and while that’s certainly not a bad thing, and it’s an important message to repeat across the text, the volume of it can make it easy to not pay too close attention. Perhaps this comes as a result of my being raised in the church, having had this message talked about around me for my entire life, and a little bit of my own inherent attentive challenges, but I don’t believe it’s an uncommon sentiment. We know God is loving and righteous and forgiving, and we know that happy are we who believe in Them. We can boil it down to an almost formulaic principle—God loves you, follow God, all’s good, happily ever after. Yet that summary misses the point.
I think it’s easy to get caught up in the idea that, to make the best out of that formula, we ought to somehow impress God, or prove ourselves to Them with our good deeds and all. Even if we know we’ll be forgiven for our human mistakes, we think, well, we might as well do the best possible. Everyone will be forgiven, but we can be the less sinful folks in the bunch when The Judgement Days™ come. Then, when we inevitably fall short of our own standards, we criticize ourselves. Sure, we’ll be forgiven, but we still could’ve done better. We know all the rules, we know how to live well in Christ, so we should be able to just... do it.
But an interesting point that we see a lot in the Bible suggests something to the contrary, one echoed in this passage: “I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”
We forget that God is our guide, a parent and teacher to us, and any good parent or teacher doesn’t just tell their kids or students what to do and then get disappointed in them when we mess up with no further assistance. (Some of them might, but not the good ones.) They talk to them honestly, point out their mistakes, forgive them for them, and then show them what to do next. Life as a disciple is more than life based on a one-size-fits-all dos-and-don'ts list, it’s an active, adaptive life personally guided by God. We’re following Jesus, not just rules. We are not expected to get everything right, right away. Or ever, for that matter. This is a journey, one that will have its fair share of challenges and misfortunes, but it doesn’t matter, because we are still learning, and we are still growing.
God is walking alongside us, not just ahead of us. We can be at peace.
God, we remain near you. When we keep silent in our self-disappointment, when we waste away in shame, you keep watch over us. When we acknowledge our mistakes, you serve as our shelter, and you surround us with the reassurance of your love. You protect us from the rushing waters of our lives, and preserve us from the doubts and judgements of our own minds. So, we are glad in you and rejoice, for you will not let us be lost in our mistakes. Praise be to you, now and always.
In your many names,
Amen.
Levi Miller