(The following article was written in mid-March, 2020.)
Greetings! I hope this newsletter finds you doing well, with plenty of food, hand soap, and extra toilet paper. As the world changes every single day, and nobody quite knows what will happen next, it can be easy to slip into the fear of not knowing what lies ahead. There is a lot that could go wrong. I find this thought entering my head quite often these days. I probably don’t need to share this thought with you either, you are probably hearing it several times a day already from every major news and media outlet. I am reminded of the second verse of the hymn, “Before the Throne of God Above”, which begins with the words: “When Satan tempts me to despair.” For a lot of people, the temptation to fall into the pit of despair is very real now more than ever. Let me be clear, I do not mean to say that we should take any of this lightly, or that we should dismiss a very real threat that is present in the world today. There is a difference, however, between precaution and panic, and being afraid does not mean that we are hopeless. God never calls us to despair. In fact, through His Holy Spirit we are strengthened to do just the opposite: to hold strong to our faith in spite of the world’s fear, to pray without ceasing in spite of the world’s panic, and to trust in God at a time when nobody has any idea what will happen tomorrow.
We have been living in a world and in a country where people, by and large, do not feel that they need God. Many people are safe and secure in their health and in their finances and do not view themselves as needing anything, especially God. The last few weeks have changed all of that, and now people who once found a false sense of security in their healthy diet, their low-cholesterol and their IRAs have had the floor dropping out from beneath them. In the closing remarks of the sermon on the mount, Jesus tells us in Matthew 7 that those who live according to His teaching will be like a wise man who builds his house on solid rock; which will withstand the rains, floods, winds, and in our case the chaos of an ever-changing world. Those who do not, however, will be like one whose house is built on sands that wash out from under them when the situation becomes dire. The world is currently going through a period of proverbial rain, winds, and floods, and it’s starting to look like things might get dire.
I find myself having to pull myself away from the news headlines and get some fresh air every once in a while to keep from going mad. With the extra time that I now have, while getting into the Word of God and spending time in prayer, I have realized something beautiful. There is also a lot that could go right. I find this thought not entering my mind often enough these days. It’s easy to become so fixated on things which could go wrong, that we miss out on opportunities that God is giving us to shine a light into increasingly darker times.
In Matthew 5, Jesus calls His followers “the light of the world,” “the salt of the earth,” and “a city on a hill.” The idea that there is something that sets God’s people apart from the rest of the unbelieving world is one that has been around since the beginning. Jesus was just re-iterating this idea to a new generation of people, using new metaphors to illustrate His point. The truth is that every generation needs to hear it; every generation of God’s people needs to be reminded that they are sacred, holy, and set apart from the rest of the world because of the God that they follow. Now more than ever, we have an opportunity before us to show the rest of the world the love, truth, and grace of God at a time when they might be willing to hear it. Jesus tells His followers in John 13:35, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” It is precisely moments like this in human history where doors are being opened for God’s people to love one another and be a blessing to the world. With many parents home from work and kids home from school, this is a time when many families will be spending more time closer together than they have in possibly years, or even ever. Modeling Christ’s love for one another starts in the home and flows outward from there. Do you have a neighbor who might be unable to shop for themselves right now and needs assistance to get basic supplies for living? Would a stranger at HEB be blessed by having the humility of Christ shown to them as we strive to put others before ourselves as Jesus did? Philippians 2:3-4 reminds us to “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”, and God is giving us a golden opportunity to model this to the outside world.
We continue to lift up in prayer those who are sick with the new coronavirus disease, as well as those who are caring for them. Doctors and nurses, first responders, and law enforcement need our support, prayer, and cooperation now more than ever. God remains good in the midst of this crisis, and while we have not yet been delivered from this current pandemic, we have been delivered from sin and death once and for all. It is this blessed assurance that strengthens us as we face each new day, filled with the hope of the resurrection of Christ and confident that no matter what happens to our earthly bodies, we have a place prepared for us in God’s house. I pray that we might come together as the body of Christ, even if that “coming together” separates us with a healthy amount of social distancing, but that nonetheless, we may seek to serve God and our neighbor in this difficult time. I am excited to see the ways in which God will redeem all of this.
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