COVID-19 – PJ's Monday Musings

Monday Musings: 3 questions we should all be asking

Ahhh 2020.

Just when we think we’ve got you figured out (insert your favorite conspiracy theory here)…

And, now the Left Coast is on fire.

Seriously.

Entire cities and towns and even hospitals (hospitals?!) have been evacuated up and down the states of Oregon, Washington, and California.

This year has been one like no other in recent memory…and apparently it’s not over yet.

So, as we watch our land burn (literally)…

As we put our political stakes in the ground and wait for Election Day to save our country…

As we argue and debate and look down condescendingly at anyone who thinks differently than we do about COVID-19 or any other “hot-button” issue in our culture these days…

We should all stop, take a deep breath, and think (I mean REALLY THINK) about these three questions…

Where is God in all of this?

Has God lost control of the world?

If God can make all of this go away, then why doesn’t He?

The answers to these questions could fill a book (or LOTS of books), but I’m intentionally keeping this short.

So, let me just end with these words from 2 Chronicles 7…

¹³At times I might shut up the heavens so that no rain falls, or command grasshoppers to devour your crops, or send plagues among you. ¹⁴Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.

If God might shut up the heavens or send plagues to get His people’s attention, don’t you think He might also send a global pandemic or throw countries into political and social unrest or allow fires to burn?

Because if He did, then we need to stop arguing and complaining and fighting against it all and do more of this instead…

Humble ourselves.

Pray.

Seek the Lord.

Turn from our wicked ways.

And then trust God to forgive us of our sins…and heal this land.

Monday Musings from Psalm 37

March 2020.

A month and a year that won’t be forgotten any time soon…or ever.

March 2020 started like any other “normal” month, but halfway through everything went sideways.

It started in the United States with the NBA shutting down its season on a Wednesday.

By Friday, schools were closing their buildings.

That Sunday, it was churches.

And the dominoes continued to fall with theaters and restaurants and parks and pretty much any “non-essential” public space closed or heavily restricted by the end of the month.

Fast forward six months and September is starting like a new “normal” month.

The NBA season is back…playing games in a bubble.

Schools are starting back up again…online (at least for now).

And churches are slowly starting to gather again indoors with guidelines for social distancing.

Same with many businesses and public spaces.

Welcome to the new normal.

As many of us go kicking and screaming into the final stretch of 2020, we need to stop and listen to the wise words of King David in Psalm 37.

Beginning in verse 7, he writes…

“Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper-it only leads to harm. For the wicked will be destroyed, but those who trust in the LORD will possess the land.”

In a country that is becoming increasingly louder and more polarized may we all as Christians daily choose to…

Be still in the presence of the LORD.

Wait patiently for him to act.

Stop worrying about evil people.

Stop being angry.

And trust in the LORD.

Perhaps if we all choose to live these last days of 2020 like this, we’ll be in a better place to receive whatever God has for us in 2021.

And in a better place to point people to the only One who can bring lasting hope and peace and healing to this broken world.