Happy New Year, Folks! With each day turning into the next, we managed to scale through another pandemic-ridden year to enter 2022, with joy and gladness and hope for a better year. What are your expectations and plans for this year? Well, before I jump into it, let me apologize for my prolonged silence on…
He knew better than we could ever know, the kind of troubles we would have to face; and well ahead of them, He promised us His peace and gave it freely. “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Letting us know that in the face of serious challenges to our peace, when the only thing we see is trouble and fear, He has given us peace. That peace will overshadow and calm every storm in ways that only He can. “Peace, be still…” (Mark 4:39)
I may not be able to explain why the things causing this pain have been allowed to happen or even linger. All I know is that when I call to Him, in my distress, He will answer me (Psalm 120:1). He will be with me in trouble. He will rescue me and honour me (Psalm 91:15). He is my Father and my God (Psalm 89:26) and I trust Him to make it all good in His time (Eccle.3:1,11).
I was listening to an audio book talking about how God led His people through the wilderness and provided for their every need. In the book, the author described Moses’ life and all he went through to become the person God would use to deliver Israel. Although I knew the story, I had never given…
Imagine what they must have experienced, not knowing when next they were going to travel, and for how long they were traveling. Can you identify with them in these COVID-19 times? I can. I feel their frustrations. I feel their disappointment and distress. They had many questions. Maybe they expected the promised land to be just around the corner from Egypt. And the journey was taking forever! Their eyes were clouded over by what they were going through. So much that they failed to realise that their clothes were growing on them and their shoes did not fall apart.
The COVID-19 moved fast and before we knew it, it was a pandemic and every country had it. Anyway, we all know the story. And I am sure we don’t need me to rehash it. It is painful enough. It is in our faces. Our lives tell the story. The lockdown, job losses, multiple deaths tell the story. The fear going round tells the story. As we watch the numbers daily, we are all just waiting for it to end; hoping for a drug that works or any solution from whatever source.
You know, in the midst of this pandemic some people are actually smiling to the bank? I’m sure Zoom is having the best boom ever! I can’t count how many meetings I have attended on the Zoom platform in the last month! My daughter’s school actually uses the Zoom platform to deliver some of their lectures. There are others too. Food vendors, delivery and logistics companies, pharmacies, grocery stores, and the list goes on. They are able to rise up to the occasion and serve the people who are locked down and desperate for supplies.
I don’t know how you are coping with this, but I find that every day, I have to remind myself that God is still in charge and I have no cause to worry. Even then, I find it difficult to muster enough courage to step out of my house to take a walk around my estate.
Because God is still God, we know for sure, this is not the end. A new day will dawn where COVID-19 will be a thing of the past. It will happen soon. This is the time to prepare for that day. Keep hope alive. Set your sites on the future to come. Look beyond the now. Look beyond the darkness and see light. The promise of a better tomorrow. That is our hope. We have hope in God and we believe that this season will pass.
In the midst of the lockdown, economic crises, sickness, and death, let us lift up our eyes to the only one who can save us, to the One True God. He hears us when we call. Pray for an end to this invasion. Pray for His light to come to dispel this darkness. Pray for His healing to flow through the nations. Pray that these days will not be unduly prolonged. We have to keep praying, even when we don’t feel like it.
