Steadfast, Immovable, Abounding

Goodbye. It’s a word we say all the time. We say it to our families at the beginning of our daily routine, knowing we will gather back together the very same evening. We say it to our coworkers at the end of a long day, even when we will meet again only a few hours later. We say it to our friends and family when our next steps in life make it necessary for many miles to separate us. We say it when our loved ones are facing the final days of life on this earth, comforted by the promise that eternity will be our everlasting reunion. And we say it to those we leave behind at the end of our own lives, believing that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18). No matter the nature of the goodbye, it always carries with it a touch of sadness, because physical separation is making it harder to enjoy and experience the relationships in our lives.

There is one goodbye, however, that we should never have to say. No matter what changes happen in our lives, what valleys we must wander, or what mountains we must climb, we need never say goodbye to God. When Jesus gave His disciples the Great Commission, He said, “‘and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age’” (Matthew 28:20). These were exactly the words the disciples needed to hear at that moment. They must have felt that Jesus was leaving them again, after He had so recently come back to life. They must have wondered how they would be able to accomplish this magnificent command without His leadership. They must have thought that this was goodbye. But Jesus makes it clear that this is not the case—He had already promised them “another helper,” the Holy Spirit, who would always be with them.

No matter what we face in life, God is always by our side, going before us, and walking behind. One of my favorite examples of this in scripture is Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego’s courageous walk through the fiery furnace of Nebuchadnezzar. After refusing to bow down to the king’s idol, the three Israelites are thrown into the fiery furnace to be burned alive. But we see only a few verses later what occurs: “Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and stood up in haste; he said to his high officials, ‘Was it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire?’ They replied to the king, ‘Certainly, O king.’ He said ‘Look! I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!’” (Daniel 3:24-25) I love this passage because it so literally displays the way God stays with us through the trials He allows us to endure. As Moses says in Deuteronomy 31:6-8, “‘Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.’ Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, ‘Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’” In this passage, God’s people are told that He is the one who goes with them. No matter where life takes us, we never have to say goodbye to God, because He walks with us on the journey. As Zach Williams writes,

In the waiting, in the searching
In the healing and the hurting
Like a blessing buried in the broken pieces
Every minute, every moment
Where I’ve been and where I’m going
Even when I didn’t know it or couldn’t see it
There was Jesus

Of course, we have seen in the past where God removes His hand of blessing when his children step out of His will and try to figure out life on their own. This happened many times to the children of Israel, often resulting in years of captivity in a foreign land. But this only occurs when we choose to disobey God—when we choose to say goodbye. God is not walking away from us, we are walking away from Him. If you are traveling in a direction that requires saying “goodbye” to God, you’re going the wrong way. That’s why Jesus’ cry on the cross of “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” is so incredibly terrible. God the Father had turned away from God the Son, not because Jesus had sinned, but because he bore every sin on our behalf. God had to turn His back on Jesus, because God is holy and just and cannot excuse sin. That is what redemption is really all about. Jesus was forsaken by God, so that we wouldn’t have to be. So turn to Him; call on Him. And always remember: He is the one Person to whom you never have to say “goodbye.”