At this very moment I am uncertain on what tomorrow will bring. I am confident I know who holds the future. It’s not a matter of proving or disproving this hypothesis, rather is it confirmed in, with, and under a radical, trusting faith as a baptized child of God. The norm of social discourse in an increasingly secular, faith-less society has been to question or even reject the providence and presence of God. When things go bad we find ourselves – again – on a dangerous and slippery slope conducting our daily lives without a clear sense of Godly purpose and direction.
Over the years, the focus of ministers (aka all the baptized) of Jesus Christ has been to keep Jesus – the main thing! To venture forward into the grace, forgiveness and redemption offered through Him as front and center. The phrase ‘keep your eyes on the prize’ has been adequately appropriated to help us maintain Jesus as the focus and reason for our ministry. The COVID-19 pandemic threatens our ability to maintain focus and to give glory to God, our Creator, for the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ alone.
We are extraordinarily aware of the intent of the evil one to refocus us on someone or something else. First of all to focus on ourselves, second to focus on the earthly powers and principalities to save us. Despite our trust and deep faith in God as the sole power to save us, it doesn’t mean the devil and all his empty promises don’t get front page news. In particular, it appears society places a blind trust in human endeavors and that is gaining rapid acceptance. During a health crisis the primary diversion of our attention is on a VACCINE. Before you stop reading, don’t for a minute think I am advocating not being vaccinated for any disease. Rather I am advocating attributing all that works for good in response to helping a broken world become whole and healthy – to God. Yes, God. God guides everything – people and resources – toward good. He does so in spite of governments, officials, and corporations who think otherwise.
God is not in the pandemic. By the power of the Holy Spirit, God is in those who work tirelessly to help and assist His creation to endure and eventually survive it. That is why all glory and credit should be given to God. During this pandemic, many have asked…to whom shall we go? We have gone to God in prayer, we have worshipped Him, and we laid down ours normal lives and work to see to it that His mercy and grace endures – every moment of every day during this time and all times. We are grateful to God for all He has done, continues to do, and has yet to do in the name of Jesus Christ during difficult times.
So, as we move forward and God gifts us with people who have the expertise to develop vaccines for our survival from biological evils – we rejoice. Yet, we know, since everything works together for good for those who love the Lord, God is to be given all the credit. Think for a moment on how different the world would become if God was given the proper credit for our well-being. Perhaps, we would finally recognize it’s not the devil in the details, but rather it is a loving God. We would recognize that supreme value of all life as important to God.
As we continue to fully trust God – may we act and serve knowing Jesus is with us in every moment to help us – especially when things get very bad.
gracexchange 