So I’ve been super busy since I’ve last written. I’ve had projects, deadlines, commitments and a schedule that seems like sand moving right out from under me. A lot has happened. Or rather a lot is happening. Or is that nothing is happening? It’s hard to say. That pretty much sums up the state of this virus-riddled world today. So many questions, unknowns and quickly-changing scenarios leave us feeling unsure of anything.
I could beef up my word count right here and go a long way down this “what if” rabbit hole but I won’t do it. You can find that easy enough all over social media, cable news, the checkout line at the grocery store or in the sketchier parts of your brain. You can be “socially distant” and still be worried or panicked about what’s going to happen in the future.
I want to offer hope and calmness today. In fact, I want to encourage us all, myself included, to bring ourselves back to today. Satan has used the unknown to spark a wildfire of uncertainty spreading in all directions at a torrid pace. It is so very easy to let our brains run away from us. We race out into the future and start borrowing trouble that God does not intend for us to face today or possibly ever. Then we struggle and panic from possibilities. We make poor decisions and respond to things in unhealthy ways.
Friends, God doesn’t want you to worry about what might happen in 3 months. He wants you to live for Him for today. He will provide for you today. When tomorrow comes, He will give provision for that day. When He was leading the Israelites out of Eygpt to the Promised Land, God fed them daily with manna and was clear that they were not to get extra. He provided them enough for the day. When Jesus is teaching us how to pray in The Lord’s Prayer, He says “give us this day our daily bread.” Not tomorrow’s bread, but today’s.
Matthew 6:34 hammers home the same point. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
I’ve been a party to so many conversations in the last few days about potential problems that we might have at some point amid this virus outbreak. This does not bring out people’s best sides. I mean hoarding things or buying up all the hand sanitizer and selling it online for a profit?! I read a story in the New York Times about a man who did just that before the online host shut him and others like him down.
I would like for us all to take some deep breaths and remember that God is totally in control. Unlike many of us, He was not taken aback by this virus and its residual effects. He also knew you in your mother’s womb. He knows the number of hairs on your head. He will take care of you.
That doesn’t mean that we can’t use the brains He gave us. I mean, sure, go buy your groceries. Go ahead and buy two packs of toilet paper even. But is it really necessary to have 100 rolls of toilet paper in your house at any one time? We’ve let good sense go out the window and have caved in to fear, uncertainty and panic. God did not make us to live in fear. In 2 Timothy 1:7, Paul says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
He also doesn’t want us to be anxious and worried. Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.”
Friends this is an unprecedented time for most of us. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I will try to heed the directions of the medical experts as much as possible and simply play the hand I’m dealt today. I can’t change much by freaking out, being upset or being worried by what may or may not happen. I could focus on all the questions (and believe me this is a battle I wage) that don’t seem to have answers, the scary news, and all scheduled events and opportunities that have been taken away OR I can appreciate the slowed-down time with my family, the chance to rest from a busy schedule, and the opportunity to love my neighbor, and reflect a faith that shows trust in God more than anything else.
I pray that we can each focus on the certainty of God rather than the uncertainty of the world. I pray for a quick end to this virus and a speedy recovery for anyone who gets it. I pray for calmness to overtake what feels like a palpable anxiety. I pray for good to overcome evil. I pray that we can love people and not politicize a horrible situation. I pray that we spread fewer conspiracy theories and more hope and kindness. I pray that we can be the calm in the storm.
I pray that we would all focus on one day at a time and be grateful that we are okay today. God provided enough yesterday. God is providing enough today. And God will provide enough tomorrow. Give your worry to Him and live today.
