“…for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’”
Hebrews 13:5
24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
1 Thessalonians 5:24
Ghosting. Ever heard of it? It’s a term all the cool kids use to mean the stopping of communication with someone without notice, i.e., they just disappear. Ever have someone stop texting, calling, emailing or visiting you for no apparent reason or explanation? You’ve been ghosted. Boo.
Jesus won’t ghost you. Jesus won’t stop communicating with you for no apparent reason. Go back to the bible verses above. Whether from Hebrews 13 or from 1 Thessalonians 5, the Word reminds us that he does not ghost his own. He who calls you is FAITHFUL.
This can be difficult to believe. Tragedy, poverty, relationship issues, war, health issues, these and other things consume our thoughts and emotions, distracting us from the evidence of the faithfulness of God across the ages. What are you experiencing right now that makes you think that perhaps Jesus has left you?
There is a way for us to address this. It’s called learning to live in the “now” and the “not yet.” It’s recognizing that in a way, we inhabit two worlds–the “what is completed” and the “what is to come.” And it’s recalling the what is completed which helps us through those days when we feel abandoned by God, ghosted by Jesus.
Author Paul Tripp puts it this way, “Already God has set his plan of grace in motion. Already, the prophets have spoken. Already Jesus has come. Already he has suffered and died. Already he has risen in victory from the tomb. Already the Holy Spirit has come. Already the Word has been given. But not yet is God’s work in the world finished. Not yet is his work in our hearts done. Not yet is the last enemy under his feet.”
And it’s in this “not yet” that we still experience the effects of sin and brokenness and still question, despite all the evidence before us, if Jesus has abandoned us, ghosted us. But it’s also where we experience God’s grace and power and the surpassing peace of the Holy Spirit who comes to us in the Word with the reality that Jesus has not forsaken us and is faithfulness personified.
Tripp goes on to write, “Jesus never makes a promise he doesn’t keep. His grace and love are not passing fancies. He doesn’t remove his love from us if we behave in certain ways nor is he keeping a record of wrongs that might motivate him to sneak away. He is utterly and completely faithful in the fullest sense.” He will never leave us or forsake us—never means never.
Sadly, people come and go. Sometimes it’s legitimate and other times, the absence or disappearance leaves us wondering what happened. Have I been ghosted? Not so with Jesus. Faithful. Present. Always.
In His Promise,
