hope for us all

 “The peace I give is a gift the world cannot give.  So don’t be troubled or afraid.  (John 14:27)

In the course of one week, conversation changed, stores closed and playgrounds emptied. 

We stopped eating out, shaking hands and hugging our friends. 

We stopped taking a lot of really beautiful things for granted.

And walls came down.

In our country, we pride ourselves on being independent and resilient and brave.  Financial security and self-sufficiency have built us a tidy home where we are tucked in safe.  But there’s no grit or buck up attitude that can keep us nicely distanced from this global pandemic, and without those walls, we are exposed.  Vulnerability doesn’t sit well with us. 

We are a generous people.  We care about the concerns that touch the lives of others across our city or across our world. We give sacrificially at times. We feel compelled to lift a burden where we can, to imagine how even in our differences we are all still more alike.  But we’re not really the same, after all.  On a global scale, we are the rich, educated, healthy and safe.  There are a world of desperate realities that don’t ever touch us.  But things changed this week.  We look down at our feet and suddenly see that we walk in the same shoes.

There is a global conversation and it sounds pretty much the same wherever you find yourself.  The enemy is indiscriminate.  We love our people fiercely and with the threat of loss, we notice some cracks in our confidence.  We’re not quite as brave as we once imagined.

In one week, the walls of the Church came down.  We worshiped together and then without notice, became the Church without the building, believers in our workplace and homes navigating questions that require the full depth of our faith.  

And those on the outside are looking in with bold new interest.

The invitation to ‘give a reason for the hope that is within us’ is eagerly extended (1Pet 3:15).  It is needed and it is here like never before. 

Life and death issues have the world’s attention.  

Hope is in short supply.  Anxiety and fear are running rampant. 

The message of Jesus, two thousand years ago is still a message for us today.  He still brings calm to the storm.  He is still pursuing the hearts of people, calling them to be his own, to love and follow him. Today traffic in our communities has slowed, the pace of travel and industry almost stopped, and we are finally still enough to know that he is God.  I expect that in the new quiet, for those willing to hear, God’s voice will be louder and clearer than ever before. 

God’s word is truth, and it is peace in the uncertainty.

Blessed are those who trust in the Lord
    and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.  
They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
    with roots that reach deep into the water.  
Such trees are not bothered by the heat
    or worried by long months of drought.
Their leaves stay green,
    and they never stop producing fruit. (Jeremiah 17: 7-8)

Confident hope comes from the knowledge that God is in control.  Faith in him informs our behavior.  It enables us to be joyful in the face of fear.  Paul tells believers to “Rejoice in the Lord” (Phil 4:4).

Max Lucado writes:  “This verse is a call, not to a feeling, but to a decision and a deeply rooted confidence that God exists, that he is in control and that he is good.”

When you feel afraid, spend time in the Word.  It is easy to feel overwhelmed in light of what is happening worldwide.  But God is in control.  He loves you.  He is good and faithful.  Immerse yourself in what is true. 

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
    Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you.
    I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

For I hold you by your right hand—
    I, the Lord your God. And I say to you,
    ‘Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.  (Isaiah 41:10, 13)

Secondly, pray.  Peace happens when we are still and pray.  God is near and he brings perfect peace to the storm we face. 

"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:6-7)

Hold onto your hope, friend. You are loved. May the end of this story find us all more gracious, more trusting, a people of fuller faith and a people with deep and radical dependence on God.