So, here we are! April 2020 and we have a world-wide pandemic of another new virus, never before seen by mankind. Worries, fears, even hysteria are almost the only topic of conversation, our daily lives have become ruled by “shelter-in-place” rules, by jobs being lost, by panic over toilet paper and basic supplies, while people of all political persuasions and religious backgrounds are caught up together in the same wave of near chaos sweeping the entire world. What’s going on and who can we count on?
My title, as some of you will know, is a take on the (famous?) line from the movie, “The Wizard of Oz”, where Dorothy, the heroine, transported to a magical world by a tornado, suddenly finds herself, along with her three (strange?!) companions, the scarecrow, the tin man, and the cowardly lion, forced to trek through a dark and forbidding forest, where there are rumored to be “lions, and tigers, and bears, OH MY!”…. Sound familiar?
Personally, it feels a bit like that right now. Having said goodbye, way too early, to my wife of 20 years, now 18 months ago, I have been traversing a new existence, a new marriage, and (soon, hopefully) a new job, also having been laid off after 12 years into the midst of the biggest unemployment miasma ever in my lifetime….
Oh my!
I have been particularly depressed these last few weeks, by the lack of reliable sources of information. It seems that even the numbers, which you’d think would be reliable, are subject to interpretation, political bias, carelessness, even downright lying. I read a very interesting book a number of years ago, titled “How to Lie With Statistics” (which I have just ordered to read again [Thanks, Amazon]), which presents a very enlightening sampling of how, even with the best numbers available, statistics can be presented in a way that enforces almost any viewpoint you want…
Oh my!
I have just written another post about even the danger of relying on my own understanding, even at the best of times, much less in a time of pandemic, crisis, and fear.
Oh my!
I don’t know about you, but this has been a test of my faith, almost unprecedented in my life. I say “almost” because there were several other times that tested me severely as well. I think in preparation for this one, even bigger than the rest.
And yet, I seem to be strangely (or is it strange?) calm.
Jesus did say to His disciples, on the eve of His own crucifixion: “Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27b). He Himself is our Peace, He sent us the Comforter, He made peace through His own blood. There is nothing and no one greater than Himself.
Do I believe that? Do you? Have I / we received His comfort truly? Are we leaning on the Everlasting Arms (as the hymn says)? I truly believe that God does prepare us ahead of time. Jesus proved it with His disciples time and time again. He told them stuff that they didn’t understand, ahead of time, so that when the time came, they would remember, and trust Him more (John 14:29). Gosh, I’m getting this even more myself, as I write….
Even the Scripture is written this way, starting from the beginning. There are so many prophecies about Jesus throughout the Bible. Job, the afflicted one, said / wrote, many hundreds of years before He came: “I know that my Redeemer lives”. God spoke to Eve, the mother of all living, about her “seed” that would come and crush the serpent’s head. Not to mention ALL the prophets: Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, down to Zechariah, and Malachi. And now the Holy Spirit, God Himself, has come to lead us into all truth, and bring peace to our troubled hearts and lives; to show us what must come to pass, and to guide us through the troubled waters.
What a Wonderful God we have!
I could write about this all day, and maybe I should, instead of reading the (endless?) news reports about infection rates, unemployment figures, death statistics, end of sheltering debates, and the ENDLESS political wrangling, name-calling, blaming, and finger-pointing.
He is MY Peace.
I read a devotional maybe last week, pointing out how David in Psalm 23, made it very personal: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Is He that personal with me? With you? He is the shepherd who leaves the 99 safe, to find the ONE (little, insignificant, silly, wandering) sheep that is missing. He is the ONE who perfects all that concerns me (Psalm 138:8a). He knew my name before time began, and has it written in the palm of His own Almighty hand.
Can I believe this? Dare I? Dare I not?