Things collapsing?

Sometimes we feel that our lives are collapsing: that everything is falling apart.

And in today’s first reading (Hosea 14:2-10), we hear this:

Thus says the LORD:
Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God;
you have collapsed through your guilt.

This collapse is not due to the subjective feeling of guilt (which may be unjustified on the one hand or suppressed on the other): it is due to real, objective guilt for actual sin.

To be sure, God sends his rain on both the just and the unjust, but if we are totally grounded on Christ, then no matter what happens, we will enjoy a security that reaches deep into our souls and lasts forever

On the other hand, if we are not grounded on Christ, if our hearts are set on the things of this world, if our intentions and actions have departed from the Lord, if we sin, then we lose that security and there is nothing to keep us from collapsing all the way into the abyss.

But God is rich in mercy. He can cleanse us from our sin, wipe away our guilt and restore us by his grace so that we can have that ultimate security that only he can give.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, be merciful to me – a sinner.