This
picture is from the front door of what used to be a beloved restaurant,
Sandcastle, in a favorite vacation spot.
Closed now, whoever put up the sign was feeling the loss as we are. The
restaurant’s idiosyncrasies were memorable. There was a map of the world and
the US just inside the front door where you could place a push pin to show
where your home was. The maps were nearly covered with pushpins from years of
people wanting to leave their little
mark behind. The tables once held sand buckets with napkins inside, and if you
were sitting on the front porch, watch out for birds trying to steal crumbs
from your table. Their breakfast buffet was incredible, and even though I’m
gluten free for quite a while now, I still dream of their waffles.
Yes,
feeling the loss.
In Faith in the Fashion District, I shared that I can’t shop
at going out of business sales. No bargain I find there will offset the grief I
feel over lost jobs, lost community, and an empty store front left behind.
Because I worked in the retail and fashion industry for ten years, I know that a
store is a place where people share their lives and when it dissolves, many
feel it in an acute way. Often coworkers become like family. Because of my experience, I would feel like a
vulture going into a place that will soon be shuttered.
Sometimes,
we act as if God is going out of business. We wouldn’t admit it, but we live in
a way that says we don’t think he’s quite up to the job anymore. We can be too
quick to accept the status quo, and too slow to believe God is able to still work
miracles.
Everything
God ever did, God still does.
A
song that has really ministered to me in the past few years is “My God is Still
the Same.” The song was written in the middle of the pandemic and one of the
writers, Dustin Lolli, said, “ . . . we wrote the song to remind people and the
church that God is here—He hasn’t
left-and the same God who did incredible things then, still does incredible
things today!”
So, whatever you’re facing, God is on the job. He’s not downsizing or closing
shop. In the words of Jesus, “My Father is always at his work to this very day,
and I too am working” (John 5:17).
Keep up your hope. God is not going out of business. Ever.