Holy Tension

 “He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.” — Psalm 33:5 (ESV)

Some verses shine with such clarity that they seem to contradict our lived experience. Today’s verse is one of them. It proclaims a world filled with God’s steadfast love—yet many of us wake to headlines of violence, injustice, and despair. How do we hold this verse faithfully when the world feels anything but full of love?

This is what we might call a holy tension—a sacred paradox where faith and reality seem to collide, and where God invites us to live faithfully in the in-between. It’s not a failure of belief, but the very space where biblical hope takes root. Scripture often speaks in this tension: light in darkness, peace in turmoil, resurrection in death. The verse doesn’t ask us to ignore the brokenness around us. It invites us to trust that something deeper is true.

God’s steadfast love is not sentimental or fleeting. It is covenantal, enduring, and active. It fills the earth not like a flood that overwhelms, but like seeds sown in soil. Quiet. Persistent. Waiting to be noticed, nurtured, and lived.

We are made in the image of the One who loves righteousness and justice. So we live with integrity, mercy, and courage—not because the world is whole, but because God is faithful. Our lives become a testament to the steadfast love that fills the earth.

Today, lean into the holy tension. Don’t rush to resolve it or explain it away. Instead, let it shape how you see the world and how you move through it. When you encounter brokenness, respond not with despair but with the quiet conviction that God’s steadfast love is still at work—often beneath the surface, often through you. This is the grace that goes before us, working even when we cannot see it. 

Let your kindness become a protest against cruelty. Let your pursuit of justice be a witness to the One who loves what is right. Let your hope take root like a seed, small but stubborn, growing in faith that the earth is indeed full of the Lord’s love. Live as if Psalm 33:5 is true—because in Christ, it already is. And as his love shapes us, may we be perfected in it—becoming more fully who we were created to be.

Lord, we live in a world that sometimes feels empty of love. But your Word declares it is full. Help us live in that holy tension—trusting your steadfast love, embodying your justice, and becoming signs of your faithfulness. Fill the earth through us. Amen.

Peace & Grace,

Pastor Tim