provision – One Little Candle

Coronavirus. Stock market crash. Death Toll. Quarantine. Financial crisis.

Never before have any of us experienced such a life-altering event as we are experiencing amidst the spread of the coronavirus. We are being bombarded every minute of every day with bad news. Our health and the health of our loved ones is being threatened by this virus and our global economy and financial well being are threatened as well.

We’ve been thrust into an unwanted new normal at lightning speed. We feel uncertain about the future. When that happens, fear and anxiety begin to rear their ugly heads. Panic sets in. We begin the desperate search for comfort and security, most often through the stockpiling and hoarding of what we deem as essentials.

The future seems all gloom and doom; the TV, newspapers, radio, email, internet, social media; everywhere we look around us.

STOP!!!!

What if we redirected our gaze? What if we began looking up more than we looked around? What if we fixed our gaze heavenward? Amidst all the chaos and uncertainty have we stopped to remember that we have a Heavenly Father who is firmly seated on His throne as the sovereign Ruler of the universe?

This virus may have caught us by surprise, but it has not caught God by surprise! He knew it was coming all along. He knew the day. He knew the time. He knows what the final death toll will be. He knows the cure. He knows how we are feeling. He sees our struggles. Yes. God knows the what, when, where, and how.

More importantly, He knows the “why.” “Why is this happening?” we wonder. Yet, there are many things in this world that we have no answers to, and why we’re dealing with an invisible enemy like the coronavirus is one of them. Only God knows why and He owes us no explanation. He does expect us to trust Him though. He expects us to trust in who He is.

Who is He?

In the book of Exodus, Moses asks God to display His glory. “Then Moses said, ‘I pray You, show me Your glory!'” Exodus 33:18. God honored Moses’ request, but instead of a stupendous display of His power and majesty, God spoke to Moses of His name, His character. “Then the Lord passed by in front of Him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth.'” Exodus 34:6.

What God did before Moses was to share His nature. Compassion, grace, patience, lovingkindness, and truth; are not merely traits that God possesses, they are who He is!. They are His core nature! The sovereign God of the universe who, as the Creator of heaven and earth, the Creator of you and me, has the absolute right and full authority to do or allow whatever He desires. When things are at their worst, God is still a kind, loving, compassionate, gracious, slow to anger God! He wants us to trust in who He says He is. He has earned our trust. He deserves our trust.

Trusting in What or Who?

Unfortunately, we finite human beings’ love control. So much so, that we have allowed ourselves to live our lives under the illusion that we are in control. We have placed ourselves in a bubble of false security and comforts through money, possessions, science and technology, and our human relationships, just to mention a few. Now an invisible enemy has crept in and popped our little bubbles, and our security and comforts are being threatened on a global level. We’ve taken so much stock in these perishable, unreliable things, yet we’ve failed to trust in the infinite living God as our source of provision, protection, knowledge, and security.

Who Holds the Future?

There is a lot of talk about an uncertain future because of the coronavirus. The reality is, our future is uncertain every second of every day. We don’t know what the future holds and we are not guaranteed tomorrow or even the next minute. That can be unnerving.

But for those of us who know God because of God’s grace through our belief in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we have hope. We can have peace in the midst of uncertainty. A peace that comes not because of what God can do, because as we know, all things are possible with God. “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” Luke 1:37. But we have peace, comfort, and security because the God of Exodus 34:6 loves us and has promised to never forsake us. (Deuteronomy 31:6)

We may not know what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future.

So look up and not around, for ’tis there Your Savior will be found.

** Would you like to know more about God? Maybe you’re not sure if there really is a God or how He can help you? The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has a great website called Peace With God which can help you find peace with God today. If you’d like to know God and find His peace today, click on the link here.