Ever feel like you are falling through the cracks in this life? Are you watching others fall through the cracks that cover this broken world? As I navigate this journey, I find my path is full of fissures – innocuous cracks that don’t seem all that dangerous until they suddenly turn into giant chasms too vast to cross. It is at the chasm that my journey is altered. But every chasm started as a crack – a crack so small that no one paid it any attention until it became the proverbial crack (turned chasm) that you and I and untold others are in danger of falling through.

This idiom of “falling or slipping through the cracks” refers to being unintentionally neglected, unnoticed, ignored or overlooked and therefore undealt with, unaddressed, and unengaged. This can leave one feeling unseen, unheard, unloved and totally invisible. There are so many cracks to fall through that it would seem to be just a matter of time before you or I fall through one of them. After all, who would even notice?

But there is Someone who would notice, who does notice everything. Someone who sees us, hears us, loves us and notices when we come close to life’s cracks and began to slip and slide our way through them. The world might consider us lost at that point but not our Creator. We are never lost to Him. How do I know this? Well consider these words of Jesus –

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:29-31)

Other translations say – “not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care” or “But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.”

God sees the sparrows, keeps track of the sparrows and knows every time one of them falls to the ground. How much more will He keep watch over each one of us? After all, we are created in His own image. You and I are never lost to God. He sees us when we are falling through the cracks, even though no one else may notice what is happening to us. Job believed this about God even when his world fell apart, causing Job to fall deeper and deeper through the cracks with nothing to break his fall but God’s silence. It was when Job was at his lowest point, searching for God but not able to find Him, that Job said this –

“If only I knew where to find Him; if only I could go to His dwelling! . . . But if I go to the east, He is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find Him. When He is at work in the north, I do not see Him; when He turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of Him.”

So Job can’t find God. Even so, Job makes this surprising statement.

“But He (God) knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” (Job 23: 3, 8-10)

Job feels he has lost track of God, but at the same time, Job acknowledges that God has not lost track of him. Ever feel like Job? Even though my troubles don’t compare to Job’s, I still have those moments, those days, (those months?) hopefully not those years when I feel alone, abandoned, unseen, unheard. God seems silent and unreachable as I fall endlessly through life’s cracks, waiting to hit rock bottom.

But if God knows when a sparrow falls to the ground, He most certainly knows when you or I or anyone falls through one of life’s many cracks. God “knows the way that I take” and God “knows the way that you take” too, dear readers. He is able to rescue those of us caught in the cracks, even though others would think us irretrievably lost – permanently held captive in those cracks that turn into chasms and endless caverns, forcing us to fall deeper and deeper. BUT GOD –

” . . . is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,” (Ephesians 3:20)

BUT GOD –

“Therefore He (Jesus) is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them.” (Hebrews 7:25)

Yes it is God who –

” . . . turned to me and heard my cry.” It is God who – “lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire;” it is God who – “set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” (Psalm 40:1-2)

It is my Heavenly Father who knows where I am at all times. Even when I am lost and falling through the cracks, my Creator sees me, hears my cries and comes to rescue me. When I am falling through life’s cracks, He finds me every time. When I hit rock bottom, He is the Rock, the sure foundation upon which I can stand steadfast, safe from the cracks surrounding me on every side. My Heavenly Father will always know where I am because He is always with me. He never leaves nor forsakes me.

“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” (Psalm 139:7-12)

My Heavenly Father sees me when I am falling through the cracks. He does not let me fall forever. He rescues and restores me. Because I belong to Him, I will not fall through the cracks of eternity.

“And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” (1 Peter 5:10)

“Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall.” (Psalm 55:22)

“To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy – to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” (Jude 1:24-25)

sincerely, Grace Day