It is comforting and assuring to know that God is greater than the floods that have the potential to drown us. He is bigger than the biggest problems we face personally or corporately, and His sovereign command over all things is ultimately aimed at blessing us, even in the flood moments when it feels like we are going to drown. Do we really believe that? Do we really believe that even the floods He allows to figuratively “cover our world” might actually be there to cleanse, purify and nurture new growth for the sake of our ultimate holistic flourishing?

Because of Jesus, and what He has done to bring us into God’s forever family, we can confidently seek our heavenly Father’s face and see delight and grace instead of anger and disappointment. For the believer in the gospel of grace, repentance isn’t shameful, but rather joyful. How is that possible? How can humility be a joyful thing for us?

God calls us as His people to seek out Shalom for the sake of our city as well as our own personal flourishing. He commands us to discover and display the nothing-broken-nothing-missing peace of His kingdom in every part of our day-to-day lives here in “exile” on this fallen planet filled with so many hurting and hopeless people. What does that even look like?