Yehovah Shalom

Over the course of this week, I have witnessed the depths of human depravity in a multitude of ways. There are many obvious stories: the absolute hatred in political discussions on social media, the ugliness of war torn areas, the excuse to shun other races and cultures in the midst of the coronavirus. However, these are not the stories that stand out to me this week. The stories that I continue to dwell on are the stories exposing the depth of sin in the lives of friends.

This week I've heard several challenging stories. Stories from my small group where people continue to wrestle with sins and trials from their past. A night with college students hearing how sexual sin has left deep scars, and continues to challenge them today. Eating ice cream with a friend had listening how his sin has left him struggling to find hope. It leaves me feeling anguish all the while being reminded of the depravity within my own life. Being the optimist, I like to see the good in people. With weeks like this, the verses of old ring loud and clear, "No one is good, no, not one....for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" Desperately sick feels like an understatement. Listening to the stories of the past evils in my friends lives, dwelling on the hardness of my own heart, I'm left lost in a sea of hopelessness.

However a gentle voice calls out to me like a light in the darkness, reminding me, "God demonstrates his love towards us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." And I am reminded of the beauty of the Gospel. For while I spent my night listening to the guys in my small group, the truths of the gospel ring forth, "for he does not deal with us according to our sin nor repay us according to our iniquities." As I sit and talk with the college guys, God repeats his truth in my mind, "he will again have compassion on us, he will tread our iniquities underfoot. He will cast our sins into the depths of the sea." Despite the way these stories began, they are filled with hope for as these guys discuss the depravities of their past, it is not the end of the story. "for you who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he (Christ) has now reconciled in his body by his flesh in order to present you as holy and blameless and above reproach." The stories of how evil was overcome in the lives of others, leaves me saying "Yehovah Shalom", the Lord is my peace.