by Pastor Douglas Brauner

Hanging Up Our Harps

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

Isolated. It’s a word that we’ve heard a great deal since the pandemic erupted in 2020. Some of us have endured this isolation better than others, yet at some point, all of us have felt alone. 

When I started my year long photography project in January of 2020, I had no idea how deserted the downtown streets of Colorado Springs would become. I’ve seen more people walking the streets of a ghost town than people wandering the heart of this city.

Where were these people? Many of them were alone, sitting in their homes wondering when life would get back to normal. 

“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”
Isaiah 41:10 New Living Translation

The people of Israel felt defeat when the Babylonian armies swept through their country killing many of them, destroying their beloved temple, and carrying others off to captivity. They felt isolated in a foreign land.

“We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees. For our captors demanded a song from us. Our tormentors insisted on joyful hymns: ‘Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!’ But how can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a pagan land?”
Psalm 137:2-4 New Living Translation

Have you hung up your harp? Do you feel like you’re isolated in a foreign land? Do you sit alone on a park bench? Then carry the word of God from Isaiah with you into your isolation. “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.”

Jesus’ isolation on the cross is the guarantee that God will never leave you even if it feels like everyone else has abandoned you. Instead of seeing yourself alone on the park bench, imagine that Jesus has parked himself next to you. See his smile. Hear his laughter. You’re not alone.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado