Scripture: Luke 15:8-10

Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Consider:

Be honest with yourself - how much do you really try after something gets hard? 5 more minutes, 10? And how hard does it have to be before you give up doing it all together?

I’ve watched my husband play any number of video games over the years, including ones like Galaga which are impossible to win because the levels just get increasingly harder every time you pass the previous level until the screen is so full of the little aliens you are supposed to be shooting that it makes it almost impossible for you to not instantly die.

I’ve watched him play these games for many years and I’ve noticed there is a self-imposed limit to the number of times he is willing to try to pass a level before he gives up and makes himself a snack. There’s no set number, it just seems to be a “whenever this level starts to make me so frustrated that I want to break the controller” gauge which is variable and unpredictable and dependent on several external factors which may or may not have anything to do with the game itself.

One of the most amazing parts of Jesus’ witness is his perseverance. From beginning to end of the Bible, God has any number of opportunities to give up on the chosen people and start over. God did, in fact, hit the reset button just once, but ever since then it’s been a constant battle with the human’s created in God’s image. I wouldn’t blame God for giving up and making a snack.

Instead, God chooses to continue in relationship with us. How willing are we to persevere in our relationship with God? Do we let a small obstacles, one measly cartoon alien derail us or does it take a harder challenge to unseat you? I know God doesn’t give up on us, but how willing are we to give up on God?

Respond:

Take a moment to reflect on a time in your life where you had to hit the reset button in your life with God. What caused that moment of starting over? How did your faith look when you come out the other side of that struggle time? Do you need to restart fresh? Wherever you are with God in this moment, remind yourself God didn’t abandon you. Write the message “God is always with me” somewhere you’ll see it to help you remember.

Pray:

Lord, thank You for the grace to hit reset. Even when I struggle or drift, You never leave. If I need a fresh start today, I embrace it, knowing You are near. Write the truth “God is always with me” on my heart. Help me remember You never let go. Amen.

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