各位同仁平安：

以下是11月9日「週一禱告會」李校牧分享的禱詞短文，

讓我們一起來親近天父—先求祂的國和祂的義。

誠摯邀請大家參加週一禱告會，一起禱告！

校牧室敬啟

『Because God is there 』

My dad has a lot of sayings.
Recently, one of his favorites has been, “There either is or isn’t a God of the universe.”
Given how crazy things have been back home the last four years, and especially this year, he’s been saying it a lot.
COVID? There either is or isn’t a God of the universe.
The election? There either is or isn’t a God of the universe.
Droughts and fires? There either is or… well, you get the idea.

The saying always reminds me of Abraham’s encounter with “the Angel of the Lord”.
He is on his way to Sodom and Gomorrah to lay waste to both and Abraham, when he hears of this, tries to bargain with the Angel to see if the city can be spared. In desperation, he asks, “Will not the judge of all the earth do right?”
The angel never answers. But the strong implication is: of course.
Of course the judge of all the earth will do right.

That can be a very difficult truth to accept. Because often things can feel like they are not “right.”
Whether something smaller and more personal, like a family crisis, loss of a job, severe illness—
or something bigger, like the long list of national crises I’ve watched unfold back home, sometimes things look the opposite of right.
But I’m sure Abraham thought the same when he heard of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

So what do we do? How can we trust in that promise? How can we believe that God will, ultimately and finally, be merciful and just?

Because that promise was signed in blood.
God “did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
…No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:32, 37-39)

That is a comprehensive list of things about which we can be certain. And we can be certain.
Because there is a God of the universe.