Life With God in 2024
Each event in our lives, foreseen or unforeseen, happens in the context of "withness."
Loneliness eats away the soul, shrivels the heart, harms the body and tears at the social fabric of our world. Even before COVID, 50% of Americans described themselves as lonely. It’s worse now. Social disconnection is now seen as a global behavioral epidemic and a major health risk factor which calls for urgent action.
Many factors play into our disconnection from others: issues between men and women, racial tension, immigration, economic disparity, hostility over climate and environmental issues, views on sex and gender, theological differences, and of course partisan politics. But it is not just Democrats vs. Republicans. Inter-party and inter-denominational nastiness can be the most divisive and wounding of all.
It’s no wonder that we can’t see eye to eye or cooperate for the common good.
Hope for Relational Wholeness
Relational healing begins by being with God. The whole story of the Bible is about God who desires to be with his people. As Redeemer and Healer, he is always present to his sinful, broken creation.
Here are a few examples:
In 1 Kings 8, when God is building a dwelling place with his people, he assures them: My name shall be there.
In Exodus 3, God pledges to Moses: I will be with you.
In Deuteronomy 31:8, in the midst of the leadership transition between Moses and Joshua, Moses promises the people what he experientially knows to be true: The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.
In Joshua 1:9, as the transition occurs, God asks Joshua to: Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged…The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
In Psalm 16:8, the Psalmist decrees: I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.
In Isaiah 41:10, God commands his people: Do not fear, for I am with you.
Dallas Willard says the with-God life crescendos when Jesus steps on the scene and asks, “Do you want to be with me?” Being with Jesus means to accept his invitation to “Come, follow me”—becoming his students, learning from him how to live in God’s kingdom.
As we’re shaped by God’s kingdom values, we do not passively accept disconnection and division in our families, churches and communities—as if tolerance of each other is the highest social good. Much of the time, tolerance covers up rejection or even rage. Rather than mere tolerance, we want to embody positive love of neighbor and enemy.
The Future Is With God
No matter what will happen in 2024, God—who inhabits all of time—goes before us. That means we don’t have to obsess about the uncertainty of the upcoming election year. We are not abandoned; neither is the future. We can simply stay present to each moment as it comes—knowing God is always, already there: I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).
Each event in our lives, foreseen or unforeseen, happens in the context of withness. That withness frees us to engage any social setting and face any challenge with faith, hope and love. And when things feel dark and we can’t see God, we know our story has a sure and specific end:
Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
Revelation 21:3