He's Got This, What Have You Got?

Unbelievable. Unprecedented. Unforeseen. These are just some of the words that I have read or heard during this current epidemic. We hear horrifying stories of people rashly acting selfishly and not considering the safety of others in the least. Of people raising prices on essential food goods and making selfish gain on the backs of the weary and downtrodden. We wonder about the family situations of those in third world countries like India or South Sudan who already live in impoverished and abusive situations-how does this current epidemic escalate their troubles? Here in Uganda, out in the bush where we live, the Karamajong live day-by-day-they do not have the means to stock up on supplies for one month.

Yet, we also hear stories of hope. Such as the German government sending planes to evacuate Italians to their own hospitals. Teachers are riding through the neighborhoods of their students in a car parade to raise their spirits. Or, we watch videos of neighbors and family members visiting the elderly via social distance-separated by a window-but serenading hymns together. (There’s a fun light-hearted show by Jim for my fellow Office fans called SGN you should check out.) These are the stories we must focus on the ones that bring hope. And these are the stories we must strive to tell others-wherever our sphere of influence is currently.

The spread of this epidemic strikes fear into all of our hearts-it does not disparage between class or race or religion. It is affecting us all-each of us, albeit in different ways. When it eventually ends, and the dust clears-none of us will be the same. One of my favorite Bible teachers recently said, “We have our feet on the temporal ground of our world, but we need to cast our eyes toward eternity.” (Sally Clarkson “Feet in the Present, Eyes Toward Eternity” #378 episode podcast). I realize this is the way we should live each day as we search for His kingdom, but it is during times such as these that we are reminded in an even more tangible way of this necessity.

We must draw near to God. 

But it may be that to accomplish this, we must go down first. We must humble ourselves. Each of us, in some way or another, has been at the very least stripped of some comfort or on an even greater scale will be sorrowed by the loss of some one we knew and or loved. Could it be that this is a time to lament as followers of God? To face the pain and losses that this sickness will render and take the time to process the weight of the sorrow truly. Earlier this week, I read an article by Time magazine addressing this time. The author wrote, “But perhaps what we need…..is to recover the biblical tradition of lament. Lament is what happens when people ask, “Why?” and don’t get an answer. It’s where we get to when we move beyond our self-centered worry about our sins and failings and look more broadly at the suffering of the world. It’s bad enough facing a pandemic in New York City or London. What about a crowded refugee camp on a Greek island? What about Gaza? Or South Sudan?” (https://time.com/5808495/coronavirus-christianity/?fbclid=IwAR0fwBakRAp5g72UEoPnxtlJyLHU4YIVBFW07cIpABVUH7Zfs2Boj17RK6M)

It is easy at a time like this to lose perspective, to lose sight of who we are in light of who God is. Most of us know at least a little about Job and all that he suffered. But do you know of the many lamentations that bleed off those same pages? God knows that we hurt and He even included many examples in His word of others crying out to him. But He doesn’t just leave us suffering. He reminds us of His power. 

His strength. One of my favorites comes in chapter 38, after Job’s wife and closest friends attempted to give their advice. The title is “God Speaks Now To Job”. All of it is incredible, but I’ll include only a small portion here. It says God answered Job out of the whirlwind and told him to gird up his loins like a man, leading to vs. 4:

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.

Who set its measurements? Since you know. 

Or who stretched the line on it? On what were its bases sunk?

Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together

And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Or who enclosed the sea with doors when, bursting forth, it went out from the womb;

When I made a cloud its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band,

And I placed boundaries on it and set a bolt and doors,

And I said, “Thus far you shall come, but no farther;

And here shall your proud waves stop?’

Have you ever in your life commanded the morning,

And caused the dawn to know its place……”

And it goes on with example after example of God’s power and might. Whoa! I don’t know about you, but that certainly puts things into it’s proper perspective. If we serve a God who by only His words created all things and holds all things in place, we can rest assured-He’s got this current strife.  

Are you letting the peace of God rule in your heart (Colossians 3:15)? Allowing it to seep into you so that it guards your heart and mind in Jesus (Philippians 4:7)? Or, are you giving in to fear? He’s got this, what have you got?

Draw comfort from Psalm 27:1- “The Lord is my light and my salvation-whom shall I fear? 

The Lord is the stronghold of my life-of whom shall I be afraid?”

Isaiah 26:3-4 promises: 

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast,

Because they trust in you.

Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal.” 

Where are you placing your hope and finding your safety? Are you running to temporary distractions or developing bad habits that only dull the pain? He’s got this, what have you got?

Psalm 46:1-3 “God is our refuge and strength,

An ever-present help in trouble. 

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

And the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

Though its waters roar and foam 

And the mountains quake with their surging.”

Cling to Psalm 32:6-“You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble

And surround me with songs of deliverance.”

Psalm 88:1-2 “Lord, you are the God who saves me; 

Day and night, I cry out to you.

May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry.”

Memorize these words of truth. Right them down. Post them on the walls to be an ever-present reminder. Let Him fill you with strength so you can minister to a hurting and broken world battling with fear every day.

Are you seeking His will each day-to see how you can serve Him and offer hope? Through the way you love your family, through the way you love your neighbor, your co-worker, those you don’t know-whether in your neighborhood, a street over, or across the world?

He’s got this, what have you got?