We Belong To God Through All Seasons

By Jackie Morfesis

We are all created uniquely. We know this to be true. For God told us that He knew us even before we were born. “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13). 

We are all given talents. We are not all given the same talents. We all have comfort zones. We do not all have the same comfort zones. 

I am highly verbal and literary minded. Sound means everything to me. Words hold enormous impact over my life. The words of my Lord and Savior, God’s Holy Word, words spoken and words not spoken by those we know. 

In this season of what feels like unbearable tragedy occurring in parts of our country, Southern California, and the aftermath and recovery of those impacted by the hurricanes, words matter. I have been following the tragedy of the Los Angeles wildfires with interest. For many reasons. One, I was personally affected by an arson fire of a family home at the age of 22 at the New Jersey shore. We barely escaped with our lives by dropping from a second story balcony into the bushes below seconds before the house exploded. 

I have two very poignant memories from that night. First, I remember standing in the last room huddled together with my two housemates. The fire was encroaching upon us. We could not even see each other because the smoke was so thick. We were coughing and could barely breathe. I remember feeling something so powerful – that it completely overwhelmed me. I felt my soul. In fact, all I could feel was the presence of my soul and God. I lost all fear in that moment. I knew that my soul could not be burned in the fire, it was the true essence of my being. 

Fortunately, we found the door to the balcony and escaped. When I stood on the ground watching the house explode and burn to ashes, I spoke with God. He assured me that I was still His child regardless of what I lost. My identity as a child of God did not change because of earthly circumstances. 

Who are we when everything is lost? What do we say? How do we live?

Many will not come to such trauma and tragedy in life. Perhaps that is the blessing. Yet, it is also paradoxically a blessing to lay our life completely in the hands of God. To be surrendered to His mercy, His protection, His love. 

In these moments, we cry out to the Lord. We testify. We thank Him for what, if anything was salvaged. We are grateful for even the smallest gift. Have you heard the stories coming out of the devastation in the wildfires? The cries to God? Thanking God? Praising Him? Asking for mercy?

Let us live in such a way that we are doing all this at all times not only in times of tragedy. He never leaves us. We are the ones wo step away. Amartia. We are the ones who miss the mark. We are the ones who become distracted, swept up into worldly concerns that take our eyes away from the single perfect point. God’s stillness and peace. We are the ones who have false idols and put something or someone before God. 

I will always remember a teaching from Father Thomas Hopko at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary in New York  during a Lenten retreat “Sin: Primordial, Generational, and Personal”. He said that God cannot be taken from our lives. God does not move away from us. We are the\ ones who move away from God. This is our sin. 

We must always be vigilant and on guard. For we know that the devil comes as a prowling lion looking for someone to devour. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Whether through trauma, or tragedy, or toxic relationships, betrayal, difficulties, sickness, natural disasters, crime, we live in a world that is bombarded with challenges and hardship. 

In these moments, even seasons of despair, we must remember who holds us. Who knew us before we were even born. Put our trust in God. Make yourself right with God again. Repent. Ask for forgiveness. Forgive. Be restored. Be healed. 

God orders our steps only if we allow Him to order our steps. “The steps of a good person are ordered by the Lord” (Psalm 37:23). When we do, every heartache, every pain, every setback, will be an opportunity for Him to bring beauty from ashes. For we belong to God through all seasons. 

Isaiah 61:3

To grant those who mourn in Zion,

Giving them a garland instead of ashes,

The oil of gladness instead of mourning,

The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.

So they will be called oaks of righteousness,

The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.