Everything familiar has been cancelled. Beaches closed. Broadway plays shut down. Easter services interrupted. I’m prohibited from visiting Mother to to celebrate her 96th birthday. My daughter lives in New York City—the epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic. School closings forced children to forego their classrooms for distance learning. Grocery stores lack toilet paper. Journalists raise doubts about the motives and decisions of our government. The stock market drop threatens my economic security. My emotions vacillate between fear and panic. Uncertainty concerning the outcome of the coronavirus weighs heavily on my mind. Doubts about God seep into my mind and disrupt my faith.
Dr. Phil, psychologist with a proven tract record of concern for our mental health, suggests we deal with the facts to help our emotional well-being. Max Lucado, one of my favorite Christian authors, reminds us that trouble does not mean the absence of God. The book of Hebrews, written to encourage believers in difficult times, defines faith as assurance of unseen realities—absolute truth. Based on what we learn in Hebrews, our faith that begins as hope can be trusted in trying times.
By faith, Noah obeyed God’s warning regarding the flood, and built an ark. God met the needs of his family.
By faith, God’s people crossed through the Red Sea as if walking on dry land. God parted the waters.
By faith, Moses left Egypt, moving forward as though he could see the invisible God. God delivered His people.
By faith, the prostitute Rahab, in the face of danger, welcomed the spies into her home. God protected.
By faith, God’s people circled Jericho for seven days, and the walls toppled. God defeated their enemy.
By faith, Abraham followed God’s call to offer his only son as a sacrifice. God saved his son.
By faith, God’s people conquered kingdoms, closed the mouth of hungry lion, and sent opposing armies into panicked flight. They accepted torture, suffered mockery and endured prison. The faithful were stoned, swallowed up by a whale and killed by the sword. Some were penniless, afflicted, and tormented. Others wandered across deserts, crossed mountains, and lived in the caves, cracks, and crevasses of the earth. During every trial, God remained.
Throughout history and in every circumstance, God kept His covenant promises and proven Himself trustworthy to protect and provide for His beloved children. By faith, ordinary people like us endured hardships worse than the Coronavirus. They believed with firm conviction that God loved them, and they trusted Him to keep His promises in times of despair. As we endure this season of testing unprecedented in our lifetime, we are called to surrender our doubts to our heavenly father and prove ourselves faithful to Him.
By faith, I accept the sovereignty of God during the uncertainty of this pandemic. By faith, I believe God’s unseen promise to protect and provide for me. By faith, I choose to trust God with what I cannot see.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ezDEZaCuzXQ
Max Lucado
Matt 11:28
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIjWEWiezMY
Dr. Phil deal with the facts
Lauren Daigle I will trust in You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_aVFVveJNs