Without You

Michael Andres

May 6, 2025

Reading

Keep me safe, O God,
I’ve run for dear life to you.
I say to God, “Be my Lord!”
Without you, nothing makes sense.
Psalm 16:1–2 (The Message)

Reflection

There’s a lot I don’t understand about the world.

First of all, it’s full of people. And we’re not exactly the easiest or most logical. We have feelings, and feelings are messy—which means we say things and do things that are messy. We hurt people we love, and we ignore folks we don’t know, even when we can see their need. Sometimes, we do good by one another—care and show up in incredibly beautiful and sacrificial ways. We do things for strangers just because. We bless others we’ll never meet.

There’s a lot I don’t understand about the world, and there’s a lot I don’t understand about how I’m supposed to live in it. There are plenty of days when I wonder if I’m doing it right… you know, whatever “it” is. And then there are others where I’m so confident in what I’m doing, it doesn’t seem to matter what the “it” is. Occasionally, I do things I don’t want to do, and other times I do things I do want to do—but every now and then, I get the two confused and keep doing them anyway.

Paul wrote about that to the Christians in Rome. He said, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”

There’s a lot I don’t understand about the world. There’s parenting my parents and parenting my kids. There’s supporting loved ones who grieve while grieving the loss of those who were supposed to support me. There’s having a faith whose power comes in our unity and ever-welcoming community, while we live in a culture shaped by shame, othering, and exclusion.

And we haven’t even gotten to the conundrum of going to the store and still not knowing what to make for dinner.

I guess that’s why Pastor Mark’s words on Sunday were comforting: “The Holy Spirit is God’s gracious Presence in our lives.”

As much as we want to try and make sense of ourselves and the world we move through each day, there are always going to be things that confound and confuse us. For all the moments we find peace and rest in the loving arms of Jesus, we will also find ourselves feeling adrift and alone in stormy seas.

The Holy Spirit is God’s gift to us—an assuring and steady presence, a mystery of constancy, and a bedrock of truth. Even that doesn’t make sense, and yet, somehow, it’s OK.

And so today, wherever you are—in the middle of understanding, confusion, grief, gratitude, or just a grocery aisle—may you pause for a moment to breathe.

Let the words of Psalm 16 guide you as a simple breath prayer:
Inhale: Without you…
Exhale: Nothing makes sense.

You don’t have to understand everything to belong.

You don’t need to have the answers to be held by the One who holds all things.

The Spirit is present.

Amen.