Friday, March 13, 2020

Hope Amidst the Pandemic




SO  this is what it is like to experience a pandemic (the worldwide spread of a new disease). I never would have imagined experiencing something like this in my lifetime, but as I often say, there is a first time for everything! Needless to say, I will be happy when this is all over.

The Coronavirus COVID-19 has everyone out of sorts! I will look forward to the day when all the toilet-paper-shortage jokes stop, and the struggle to moisturize my hands as much as I wash them will be over.


ANYWAY,  here are my two cents on the situation... I couldn't help but chime in on this. In a world full of gloom and doom where we are constantly being inundated with facts, opinions, numbers, fears, and the like, I hope you will be refreshed by the eternal perspective and hope held out in the following points shared below. Call it optimism. Call it religion. I see it as me having faith in proven, life-changing, timeless, imperishable truths.






#1 From a place of gratitude, I will start by saying I am thankful for this season of life (dare I say for the virus itself) because, for one thing, It is a reminder to us that this earth is not our home.  





#2  I am thankful for this season of life, two: because it is an affirming reminder to us that God's plans cannot be thwarted and that they will and are coming to pass. Feeling oddly unphased by it all, I ponder, how could I allow myself to freak out or be alarmed by the chaos, fear, and confusion taking place in our world right now when the foreknowledge of all this happening has been so clearly presented to us in the prophecies of scripture. I'm not necessarily saying I believe we are experiencing the end of the age (Matthew 24:36, 2 Peter 3:10), but just saying that as a Bible Believing Christian, when I've learned from scripture that these sorts of events are to be expected and will culminate in the end times, how can one be surprised? I'm also NOT saying I'm devoid of any emotion or concern, but I digress.





#3  To continue off of the idea that I am not devoid of feeling, emotion, concern, or sensibility, Thirdly (...and my most favorite point), I am thankful for this season of life because it is a reminder to us that GOD IS GOOD. And this good God is sovereign, in control, and worthy of our trust;  by which knowing that, PEACE is produced in me, the "feeling" in me that is currently and undoubtedly supernaturally outweighing all others at this time. It's simply unexplainable. 



I do hope dear readers, that the verse above would be made true for you, as it has been for me. Worry and anxiety have proved never to do anything good for our bodies or immune systems, if anything, affecting them negatively which is the last thing we need. So in conclusion, Yes, keep washing hands, and yes, maybe social distancing isn't an entirely bad idea, but also check out this outstanding hymn I discovered listening to Wretched Radio the other day. Thanks to Todd Friel for sharing it! The remarkable, ever so timely lyrics have been ministering to my soul ever since I read them. Hymns are amazing like that. I encourage you to marinade in the truths buried within each verse of this hymn that you to may be equally blessed by them too!


  
What God Ordains Is Always Good

By: Samuel Rodigast
What God ordains is always good:
His will is just and holy.
As he directs my life for me,
I follow meek and lowly.
My God indeed
In every need
Knows well how he will shield me;
To him, then, I will yield me.

What God ordains is always good:
He never will deceive me;
He leads me in his own right way,
And never will he leave me.
I take content
What he has sent;
His hand that sends me sadness
Will turn my tears to gladness.

What God ordains is always good:
His loving thought attends me;
No poison can be in the cup
That my physician sends me.
My God is true;
Each morning new
I trust his grace unending,
My life to him commending.

What God ordains is always good:
He is my friend and father;
He suffers naught to do me harm
Though many storms may gather.
Now I may know
Both joy and woe;
Someday I shall see clearly
That he has loved me dearly.

What God ordains is always good:
Though I the cup am drinking
Which savors now of bitterness,
I take it without shrinking.
For after grief
God gives relief,
My heart with comfort filling
And all my sorrow stilling.

What God ordains is always good:
This truth remains unshaken.
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,
I shall not be forsaken.
I fear no harm, for with his arm
He shall embrace and shield me;
So to my God I yield me.



Feel free to comment down below what your reaction and/or response to this is.
I'd love to know all of your thoughts. Let's start conversation! 
Signing off for now- Health, Peace, and Blessings,



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