As I write this I sit here in my office. Three weeks ago this was my domain, I could sit at my desk, I could roam around the room, and I had the freedom to walk around, move about, be loud or have complete silence. But today as I sit in my office what used to be a rather large room is now pack with four desk, two kids, and my wife. Now I do not say these things in frustration but just to show as everyone else the COVID-19 virus has flipped our lives upside down. The new normal is nothing like what we thought normal was. It is a treat now to load up in the car and drive to Casa Grande for some take out Mexican food. It seems that this new normal is inconvenient, we cannot do many of the things we used to be able to do. However, I can see some of the mercy of God in this home-bound sentence.
The COVID 19 has strained all of us in many ways. It has caused anxiety, concern for an unknown future, financial strain, a sense of stir craziness, and for the Church not being able to gather. I began yesterday afternoon to think about all this theologically. I know that Scripture’s testimony of our God is a sovereign Lord that is sitting on His throne and doing whatever He pleases (Psalm 115:3). When we marry that scripture with one of our favorite scriptures: And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28. We must come to the conclusion that God has us exactly where He wants us.
At this point we have to admit some things. We have to admit that we as a culture have over stretched ourselves with busyness. I can confess for myself, I can let myself become busy with trivial things, maybe better put temporal things. My/our mind and focus should be set on things that impact eternity. I believe that it is always wise to consider how God would want us to respond to the circumstances that we are in. Certainly, the scripture speaks that we should be “discerning the will of God.” Romans 12:2. If God is sovereign, and He is, and God has put us in this circumstance, He has, could this be the mercy of God for us to right the ship, if it is then how should we respond?
The Mercy of Knowing His Word
What would happen if we spent all of this extra time that we have immersing ourselves in God’s Word? What will happen when we finally gather back together if we take this time and dive deep into the Word of God and we come out of this knowing God better than we ever have before? As the Psalmist says in Psalm 119:103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Daily Bible reading, Scripture memorization, Scripture mediation should become our food as we are home-bound for this season. The opportunity that God has given us, He has slowed us down, He has given us His Word, so brothers & sisters let us take up and read the Words of Life and let them flow into our hearts & minds.
The Mercy of Family
One of the joys of the day for me is when I scroll through FaceBook seeing pictures of families spending time together. A better joy is the extra time I have with my family, the endless hours we have been able to spend in God’s good creation, having extra time to spend in the Word of God together, it has been a sweet time. We cannot deny that one thing that has suffered in our culture because of the busyness we exist in is the family. Furthermore, as the pendulum of cultural acceptance swings God’s good design for family certainly has taken a hit. But now, we can and must reclaim the created order of God as He ordained family as His good design in the beginning.
As Moses wrote to the Israelites the Law of God in the Book of Deuteronomy he told the Israelites:
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Moses gives command to love the one true God with all of our being and then to be diligent to teach that to our families with an intensity that we would always have the truth before their eyes. If I can be honest, I fail at this command regularly. Yet now we have this unique opportunity to lead our families into a deep devotion of love to our God.
A Mercy to be Hungry to Worship Together Again
From the moment that news started coming in and the realization that for a time we would not be able to gather together became a reality I felt an immediate emptiness. It was somewhat shocking to think all of our plans at church would be put on hold, but surely it would not last a few weeks. Now after two weeks of not meeting it looks like we are in this for a long haul.
In the 42 Psalm David expresses his longing to lead the Israelites again in worship:
These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival. Psalm 42:4
Though our gathering is not the bedrock of our faith, that is Christ, the need for fellowship with fellow believers is important. Our corporate gathering should be longed for; it is a small dose of our eternal gathering in heaven with every tribe, tongue, and nation. Again, we have to admit that we can become complacent within our gathering; it always has been. Sunday after Sunday, Midweek Bible study, singing's, potluck dinners, the Church is never short on gathers until it all stopped two weeks ago. Let us become hungry to gather again, let us not be satisfied with the normalcy of how we usually gathered but be hungry to gather around the life giving Word of God seeking our one true Savior, Jesus Christ as we worship together. My greatest prayer through this pandemic is that God would fan the flame of the church until it burns white hot for the worship of God corporately again.
If God can take a microscopic virus and bring the whole world to its knees, from great kingdoms & nations, to strong economies, to the most brilliant minds, a disease that is not a respecter of person can you imagine what God can do through the faith the size of a mustard seed.
Home-Bound Mercies
Home-Bound Mercies
As I write this I sit here in my office. Three weeks ago this was my domain, I could sit at my desk, I could roam around the room, and I had the freedom to walk around, move about, be loud or have complete silence. But today as I sit in my office what used to be a rather large room is now pack with four desk, two kids, and my wife. Now I do not say these things in frustration but just to show as everyone else the COVID-19 virus has flipped our lives upside down. The new normal is nothing like what we thought normal was. It is a treat now to load up in the car and drive to Casa Grande for some take out Mexican food. It seems that this new normal is inconvenient, we cannot do many of the things we used to be able to do. However, I can see some of the mercy of God in this home-bound sentence.
The COVID 19 has strained all of us in many ways. It has caused anxiety, concern for an unknown future, financial strain, a sense of stir craziness, and for the Church not being able to gather. I began yesterday afternoon to think about all this theologically. I know that Scripture’s testimony of our God is a sovereign Lord that is sitting on His throne and doing whatever He pleases (Psalm 115:3). When we marry that scripture with one of our favorite scriptures: And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28. We must come to the conclusion that God has us exactly where He wants us.
At this point we have to admit some things. We have to admit that we as a culture have over stretched ourselves with busyness. I can confess for myself, I can let myself become busy with trivial things, maybe better put temporal things. My/our mind and focus should be set on things that impact eternity. I believe that it is always wise to consider how God would want us to respond to the circumstances that we are in. Certainly, the scripture speaks that we should be “discerning the will of God.” Romans 12:2. If God is sovereign, and He is, and God has put us in this circumstance, He has, could this be the mercy of God for us to right the ship, if it is then how should we respond?
The Mercy of Knowing His Word
What would happen if we spent all of this extra time that we have immersing ourselves in God’s Word? What will happen when we finally gather back together if we take this time and dive deep into the Word of God and we come out of this knowing God better than we ever have before? As the Psalmist says in Psalm 119:103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Daily Bible reading, Scripture memorization, Scripture mediation should become our food as we are home-bound for this season. The opportunity that God has given us, He has slowed us down, He has given us His Word, so brothers & sisters let us take up and read the Words of Life and let them flow into our hearts & minds.
The Mercy of Family
One of the joys of the day for me is when I scroll through FaceBook seeing pictures of families spending time together. A better joy is the extra time I have with my family, the endless hours we have been able to spend in God’s good creation, having extra time to spend in the Word of God together, it has been a sweet time. We cannot deny that one thing that has suffered in our culture because of the busyness we exist in is the family. Furthermore, as the pendulum of cultural acceptance swings God’s good design for family certainly has taken a hit. But now, we can and must reclaim the created order of God as He ordained family as His good design in the beginning.
As Moses wrote to the Israelites the Law of God in the Book of Deuteronomy he told the Israelites:
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Moses gives command to love the one true God with all of our being and then to be diligent to teach that to our families with an intensity that we would always have the truth before their eyes. If I can be honest, I fail at this command regularly. Yet now we have this unique opportunity to lead our families into a deep devotion of love to our God.
A Mercy to be Hungry to Worship Together Again
From the moment that news started coming in and the realization that for a time we would not be able to gather together became a reality I felt an immediate emptiness. It was somewhat shocking to think all of our plans at church would be put on hold, but surely it would not last a few weeks. Now after two weeks of not meeting it looks like we are in this for a long haul.
In the 42 Psalm David expresses his longing to lead the Israelites again in worship:
These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival. Psalm 42:4
Though our gathering is not the bedrock of our faith, that is Christ, the need for fellowship with fellow believers is important. Our corporate gathering should be longed for; it is a small dose of our eternal gathering in heaven with every tribe, tongue, and nation. Again, we have to admit that we can become complacent within our gathering; it always has been. Sunday after Sunday, Midweek Bible study, singing's, potluck dinners, the Church is never short on gathers until it all stopped two weeks ago. Let us become hungry to gather again, let us not be satisfied with the normalcy of how we usually gathered but be hungry to gather around the life giving Word of God seeking our one true Savior, Jesus Christ as we worship together. My greatest prayer through this pandemic is that God would fan the flame of the church until it burns white hot for the worship of God corporately again.
If God can take a microscopic virus and bring the whole world to its knees, from great kingdoms & nations, to strong economies, to the most brilliant minds, a disease that is not a respecter of person can you imagine what God can do through the faith the size of a mustard seed.