There’s a blog I follow called “Inspired by Life . . . and Fiction.” Women who write Christian historical fiction take turns posting on this blog, sharing thing that inspire their lives and their writing. Sometimes they share about their writing projects, other times they share what they’re thinking about and working on in their devotional life or just their life in general. Wednesday morning’s post interested me for a number of reasons. One, it caused me to think new thoughts about something I thought I already knew quite a bit about (the mark of a good devotional or sermon to my way of thinking). Two, it brought me a measure of comfort for the day, a necessity in this life in the time of Corona.
The writer of the devotional, Dani Pettrey, had been considering the effects of the stress of trying to survive a pandemic. She wrote about how fatiguing the experience has been in both body and mind. “It’s what I envision when people say, ‘tired to my bone,’” she wrote. “Tired to my soul sums it up better for me.” She went on to describe her need for hope, which brought her to this week, a week that in many Christian circles is celebrated as Holy Week or Passion Week—the week Jesus lived through before He made the ultimate sacrifice to give us the gift of eternal life.
Ms. Pettrey said that she found “tremendous comfort in walking the steps Jesus took this week” and that she had been following them each day in her Bible. Now here’s the part I didn’t know about, and the part that caused me to think something new. She said that she thought it was interesting that Wednesday has been called “Silent Wednesday” when considering the Passion Week. While there is nothing specific recorded in Scripture about the day that she could find, her writer’s mind put her imagination to work wondering how Jesus spent that day. “Was it, perhaps, a day of stillness and quiet communion with His Father? Did He teach His disciples one more truth before His time on earth was about to end?” Did He give them some “words to fill them with courage and hope, words of grace?”
Those questions gave me pause to imagine for myself what Jesus had been thinking in that last day of life as He had known it for a few decades. Unlike the rest of us, He knew exactly how much time He had left on earth. He knew how each interaction mattered, how important His last words to an individual would be, not only at the time but also in retrospect. And, of course, all those musings brought me to today, to our time in history. A time when we don’t know exactly how much time we have left, when we have no guarantee if, or when, we will see each other again. Every single day for the past week I’ve received news that someone I know, or the parent (in most cases) of someone I know, has died. With tens of thousands of people dying from Covid-19 or related complications, never mind week upon week of social distancing, we really don’t know if or when we will see each other again. It behooves us, therefore, to consider the impact of our words each time we meet and the power of we have in those words. The power to encourage, to inspire, to comfort. The power to make a difference in a time of uncertainty.
Ms. Pettrey closed her meditation by asking “How are you following Jesus’ footprints this week?” Then she reminded us that “not even Covid-19 catches God off guard. He is in control and we can find shelter and refuge in His hands.” I loved that. Nothing, “not even Covid 19 catches God off guard.” I’m glad we have a Savior who walked this world ahead of us, showing us how to live in every change, in every circumstance. Aren’t you?
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