Eclipsed
In the summer of 2017 our nation experienced a solar eclipse. Along a path from west coast to east coast, millions gathered in the stripe marking where the eclipse would be total - meaning complete darkness as the sun was hidden. I have family who live in Nashville, and they experienced the totality. Here in the mid-Atlantic, it got dark, but not totally dark. A co-worker managed to get a few pair of the special glasses required to look at the sun as the moon covered it over - it was fascinating. The thing I remember most about that day, though, is the coming together in awe and wonder - people all over the nation - experiencing and living though a natural phenomenon that dazzled us.
Last week, my Nashville family experienced another natural phenomenon, a brutally fierce tornado that destroyed homes, businesses, neighborhoods, and caused significant injury and at least twenty-four deaths. Their community has come together in powerful displays of grace, love, sacrifice and compassion.
And now, the COVID-19 reality has finally sunk in to our collective consciousness - forcing us to come to terms with significant disruption and serious individual responsibility. It struck me how the same sense from the eclipse, that feeling of “it’s happening to all of us” is true, although in this case, it is not good. We are living through a global pandemic, and it connects us all in astonishing vulnerability. We must each prayerfully and alertly make choices to fight the spread of the disease. Pray for leaders in government, healthcare, education, research, transportation, industry, commerce, hospitality, etc., and for church and religious institutions. The burden of decisions is heavy, and we need the love and power of God to lead us into wisdom and insight.
I know that fear is gripping a lot of us, and I get it. So what do we do as individuals to cope with that? If you are reading this, then you know that my voice is committed to raising the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Listed below are some specific scriptures that are bedrock for me regarding fear.
But do not discount the severity of this moment - we are experiencing something that has not taken place in our lifetime. This disease is being compared to the Spanish Flu of 1918, which took the lives of 50 million people. So we have to make a decision - what do I truly believe? Is my faith in God no longer enough because of this new reality? Is God’s love not powerful enough to overcome this fear? Does seeking first God’s Kingdom become irrelevant in a season of dire circumstances? Or - is this an opportunity to experience our faith in greater dimensions than any generation before? Is this a moment where God has placed you exactly where you are for such a time as this? Is it possible that breakthroughs that we’ve been longing for could happen in the middle of this crisis?
“Now is the time for us to discover what we truly believe.”
Now is the time for us to discover what we truly believe. This virus is common to humanity - all of humanity is susceptible to it. There’s no more us vs. them, good vs. evil, rich vs. poor, blue vs. red, or pick your favorite polarization - it won’t work any more for us to escape into our corner. The truth of the Gospel must work NOW, or it isn’t true. The love of God must press us outward into caring and compassion, healing the sick, binding up the wounded, feeding the hungry, taking care of the downtrodden. I don’t claim to know how the next few days and weeks will unfold, but I have a deep sense of both seriousness and hope, severity and light, distress and powerful peace, love and faith.
I believe God is reminding us that His love eclipses all else and overcomes fear. Let his love guide your choices and decisions as each important day unfolds in the next few weeks.
Scripture Meditation and Affirmation (especially pertaining to fear)
Psalm 34:1-4 (NLT)
1 I will praise the Lord at all times.
I will constantly speak his praises.
2 I will boast only in the Lord;
let all who are helpless take heart.
3 Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness;
let us exalt his name together.
4 I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me.
He freed me from all my fears.
1 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)
For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
1 John 4:17-19 (NIV)
17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19 We love because he first loved us.
Romans 8:38-39 (NLT)
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Prayer
Wow, God. We need your help. I need to settle some things in my heart as I move through the next few days, live through disruption and decisions I never thought I’d see, love through difficult challenges and press through fears and anxieties. Thank you for your presence, and your promise to never leave me alone. Please help me with all of this - my schedule, my responsibilities, my family needs, my finances, my neighbors and my community. Grow my love and deepen my faith and strengthen my will to yield to your will. Thank you that none of this can separate me from you and your love.