You are our God.
This very reality you painfully purchased for us, and we praise you.
Yet, we are a people of dangerous delusions, in need of your rescue.
In our dreams-
we fashion who we want to be or think we ought to be.
we re-play moments of our failures and scold ourselves.
we fantasize about that which you have not given to us.
we compare ourselves to others in shame and insecurity.
we imagine how happy we would be if only...
In our loneliness-
we try to self-diagnose, and self-medicate.
we seek pleasure in the here and now.
we listen to and believe lies, and are further isolated.
we accuse you of not showing up fast enough.
we imagine how comforted we would be if only...
In our doubt-
we imagine you to be aloof and misunderstanding.
we refrain from inviting you to know us and see us.
we call you names and demand an explanation.
we are tempted to question all that we know to be true.
we imagine how easy it would be to believe if only....
Speak into our delusions and disillusions.
Be our reality- for we live in a cyber world of fantasy.
Be our comfort- for we live in a world of instant gratification.
Be our assurance- for we live in a world fascinated with the latest and greatest.
Teach us what is true of you, and therefore what is true of us.
Hallelujah, we are your people, your very own children.
In Jesus Christ we have been brought near to you.
Whisper this reality to us, even now.
We confess, You are our Hope and Stay.
Amen.
Colossians 1:13-22
For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all thing hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to HImself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.
