Rising Waters Cannot Cover God's Love

        I was watching the first Harry Potter movie and was struck first by how young the children look in their first roles.  Harry Potter just celebrates his eleventh birthday at the beginning of the movie but even though the book and the movie were intended for young readers around that age, there are some strong assumptions made that the young audience will get what is happening to Harry.  His life is not fair.  He lives in a cupboard under the stairs and his adoptive parents treat him like a servant rather than as part of the family.  He is not going to go to a good school like his cousin.  He wears cast off clothing.  The family doesn't celebrate his birthday and he hasn't gotten Christmas presents.
        It is a common theme in some very popular children's stories, this feeling that one doesn't belong and is different from their family, alone, put upon, and treated poorly.  It's a common theme because it reflects a common feeling among pre-teens.  Children equate fairness and justice with being treated the same and with things being equal.  And that evenness also can get translated into love; if someone gets more things, it may be perceived that they are loved more.  This explains in part why so many children perceive they are treated differently or worse than someone else because it's impossible to treat everyone the same all the time.  It's not even desirable.
         And yet as I said, it is a common perception that adults have as well.  It is a human need to be rewarded for doing well.  But  it is dangerous when we apply that logic to our relationship to God. It not only distorts our perception of God's love (if things are good, God loves me) but it also leads to judgment on our part ("they" deserve what happened) and can lead us to doubt God's steadfast love and mercy.  Like Job, we can be lead to think that if something bad happens to us that God doesn't love us anymore.
        Nothing could be further from the truth.  Over and over, we are assured that God's love and mercy are everlasting.  God does not abandon us to disaster, illness, or grief but is with us especially when times are hard and things go wrong.  Even in the midst of rising waters and rising anxiety, God is present here with us; our refuge, our strength, and our help.  Read Psalm 46:1-7.