The Lost Things

2020 was filled with disappointments and so far 2021 is not much different. So many things we had looked forward to were cancelled. Life got stripped back in ways we had never imagined. 

We lost holidays. We lost jobs and financial security. We lost our freedom to do whatever we want, whenever we want. We lost the ability to spend time with friends and family, colleagues and clients.  Most painfully of all, some of us have lost loved ones. The things we sought to fill our lives with were taken away, the things we put our hope in were stripped right back. The relationships we find comfort in now feel distanced. The careers and hobbies we found purpose in suddenly feel precarious. Life has never felt so fragile. Things we never thought would happen, have happened. The whole of life just feels more uncertain.

But what if those things were always uncertain and we just thought we had more control than we actually do? What if the things we sought to fulfil us were always fleeting and unreliable? What if the world hasn’t really changed at all, but we have just been given an insight into how things really are?

For me, I think the Bible helps us understand what is going on and why we are finding all this loss so hard to come to terms with. I think the Bible not only explains why we are feeling like we are but also offers us the greatest hope imaginable. Hope that is not abstract or seemingly safe, but later proves itself wanting. Instead, hope in the form of a person – Jesus.

In chapter 11 of John’s biography of Jesus, we get to see him in a place of loss. He stands at the graveside of his friend, Lazarus who has died some four days previously. Earlier in John’s account of Jesus’ life, we have seen that Jesus has incredible healing powers. He is able to bring his friend back to life, and the account tells us he will do exactly that shortly. What he does beforehand is remarkable though.

‘Jesus wept’

The shortest verse in the Bible. And yet one of the most powerful.

He stands and weeps, in identification with us and our human condition. He expresses something of the horror and awfulness of loss. He shows us that as we walk through loss, he is a God who chose to come to earth as man that he could really know what that’s like.

We cannot trust or put our hope in anything else. All else is fleeting and uncertain – but we can put our trust and hope in Jesus. He will give us the true meaning and purpose in this life that we have always been searching for. 

I do not know what tomorrow will bring. I do not know what the latest restrictions will be. I do not know what life will look like next year. I do not know what other losses will come my way but I do know that I can trust God. I do know that He is the one that gives me meaning and purpose. I may lose everything but no one can take Jesus away.

Lizzie Bassford