The God Who Won't Go

And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken my Lord, and I don't know where they laid him." John 20:13

I wonder how many times he has done this.

I'm talking about my boss. He is cleaning up an office cubicle again. Box after box. Binder after binder. Paper after paper. Another subordinate has left the company where my boss has been working for thirty-two years. I was imagining in those three decades, how many times he has done clearing out a cubicle when a colleague bids goodbye to the office. How many boxes has he put out? How many binders has he filter out to be thrash? How many project studies' documents has he kept from that deserted office nook?

When I was interviewed by him, I asked him this, "How do you do it? "What is that" he said. "Going to the same office for thirty years", he replied, "Besides I love the work, the company is my family." And yet, people left. Co-workers who became his friends abandon him. Owners sold and new owners bought the company and he is still there.

I wonder how many times she has done this.

I'm talking about Mary Magdalene. She is weeping again. Another man left her. Yes, a man after another man. Tears after tears. Broken heart after broken heart. Loneliness after loneliness. Another man she trusted with her life disappears, as she thought. However, this time she is wrong. This time is different. So, is the man she is after. The man she is visiting at his tomb is not dead. He is alive. He is risen.

He is Jesus.

He does not leave you. He does not disappear from your life. He is not like the co-worker across your cubicle, Jesus is permanent in your life. His presence is constant with you whether you are faithful or you falter. He loves you though you may not express it back. He is not going anywhere. He is with you years after years. Decades after decades, more than thirty. He stays for he loves you and for you are his friend, his family.

Don't weep. Jesus stays with you. Grow with him. Live for him. Love him. Love with him. Nobody is taking him away, he's still there with you. He is the God who won't go.