One of the wonderful things about God is that He knows us so well—knows our strengths and weaknesses, knows just what we need to carry on. Unfortunately, we sometimes have a very human tendency to forget about His love for us no matter what—especially in times of trial and change. At least this is true for me. Consequently, I need to be reminded, but I think we all do.
In the wake of the state’s decision that all schools need to close their doors for the next few weeks, my husband and I spent most of last week (our Spring Break) working out how we were going to transition our classes from face-to-face to distance learning, figuring out what was most important to cover and how best to do that in the most engaging way. Not an easy task but fortunately there are a lot of resources out there of both the digital and human form.
In between all the researching and planning, we’ve done a lot of praying—praying for family, for friends; for our school, our community, our church; for our nation and, yes, the whole world. This Covid-19 experience is something none of us has experienced before. We may have gone through challenges in our past—some of them on a grand scale—from world wars to hurricanes, from various versions of the flu to 9/11—but nothing that has virtually shut things down globally like this.
Covid-19 has spread to the very edges of the earth and all but paralyzed some of the world’s great civilizations. Listening to the news could cause us to despair of ever recovering. And yet that’s the exact moment when we need to refresh our memory, to recall what we’ve known all along: that God is still with us. He will not forsake us. One of my favorite texts remind us of this fact: "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." (Isaiah 41:10) And then there’s this from the pen of Christian writer Ellen G. White: We have nothing to fear for our future except that we forget how God has led us in the past. (Life Sketches p. 196)
Yes, we are living in uncertain, confusing, and even scary times. But if we recall nothing else from the past—whether gleaned from books or from our own experience—we should clearly see that God has been there, through it all. That knowledge can inform how we respond to this new challenge. We may have to live our lives differently going forward, but the main things will remain the main things: our relationship with God, with our families, and with each other. Make those count so the next challenge that comes our way will not shake us, regardless of its magnitude. Except we forget, we will have nothing to fear.
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