Fear seems to be driving most of society today. As I was reminded on the radio this morning, God did not instill in us the spirit of fear. Fear has no place in our lives. Period.
Due to COVID 19, most people are home-bound. Schools have shut down and if you have elementary, Jr. High or High School aged children, homeschooling has entered your home as well as a new appreciation for our teachers! Residents are ordered to stay home unless absolutely necessary. Colleges and universities have not only switched all students to online learning, but most have postponed 2020 commencement. Teachers are uncertain of the effect this will have on their students. Many people are uncertain of how this will impact their employment and the likeliness of their next paycheck. Many have already lost their jobs or work day to day not knowing what tomorrow holds in terms of their employment. Hoarding is at an all time high. For now, the stores remain open, but some shelves are empty of basic necessities. Fear has taken over many people, causing hoarding.
One of the many scriptures in the bible this aligns with is Exodus 16 when God sent the Manna from heaven. If you don't know this portion of scripture, I'll summarize. Moses was leading the Israelites through the wilderness and many were complaining of no food. The Lord's response in the people's complaint was a promise of meat and bread every day. God Himself would supply their food. The people would experience God's power in a new way! However, the Israelite's reception of this wonderful blessing from God was already tarnished by their attitudes. God told Moses to instruct the people to collect a certain quota for each day, so He may test them to see they would walk in His law or not. God promised ample supply of meat every night and He sent quail to their camp, covering the ground. He promised bread each morning and He fulfilled that promise. Every morning, there appeared manna (wafers) on the ground that tasted like honey. They were ordered to collect one "omar" for each person in their family. (About 2 quarts). No one needed to collect more than a day's worth, as the Lord promised to provide for them again the next morning. They were warned not to take more than they needed. Those that listened had plenty and did not lack in food. However, some did not have absolute faith, didn't listen and took more. This resulted with their left over portions turning rotten, collected worms and stank terribly. For these people, it only showed doubt in God's provisions. This is an amazing chapter and I encourage you to read the rest to find out what happens!
Life is hard. We often stumble through it. One of the great truths of today is that God is here. He holds us when we stumble, catches us when we fall. He calms our fears. It is upon the Lord we can depend in any situation...even pandemics! He will provide for you just as He provided for the Israelites.
The things that happen to us (whether health issues, financial issues, family issues, fears of the unknown) do not have to control us. The Lord rescues us from the control of "circumstances". He provides an invitation to a transcendent life. One that brings peace in the midst of circumstances. This does not mean we will live a pain-free life.
But it does mean we do not have to carry that pain on our shoulders.
Yes, the world is chaos right now. Everywhere! The key is to choose a true perspective - our choices rest on trusting God in the midst of things we cannot control. We can’t control outcomes. We can’t control what others do. We can’t make the wiles of the world stop. We can’t decide how the people around us will behave.
We can only be faithful. This is where choosing a true perspective comes in. If we resist well, if we live faithfully to the Lord, we win. It doesn’t matter what others do.
It is important that we focus on faithfulness and not outcomes. In times like these, sometimes having absolute faith in God is hard. We all fail. We all fall into self. We all stumble, and need someone to catch us. But faithfulness is something we may choose. Outcomes are not.
We are not responsible to make things turn out a certain way. Bad things will happen, but they are all pre-authorized. And our job is to keep fighting. To lean into the Lord’s hand by trusting His love for us. Let Him provide the manna from heaven. He has not abandoned you and will not forget about you. He is the only one true consistent that we can rely on.
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