🙏❤️🙏 May this help us if we feel isolated and discouraged. 🙏❤️🙏
1. GOD SEES US
“She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” (Genesis 16:13)
Hagar experienced social distancing and isolation when she fled in desperation to the desert! There she came to know God as the one who truly saw her. In this moment, notice God’s gracious eyes on you.
2. GOD HEARS US
“In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.” (Jonah 2:2)
When we endure suffering, it can be hard to feel that God is near. And yet from the isolation of the whale’s belly, Jonah cried out to God and God heard. God is listening to you today.
3. GOD IS WITH US
“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” (Psalm 23:4)
Whether you or your loved ones are confined at home, hospitalized, separated by geography, you need not fear, for God is present even in the darkest valleys.
4. GOD IS FOR US
“For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone.” (Lamentations 3:33)
If you’re wrestling with how to think about COVID-19 theologically, you’re not alone. What we know for certain is twofold: God is not the author of suffering and God is a redeemer.
5. GOD KNOWS OUR SUFFERING
“God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.” (Exodus 2:25)
Whatever you are facing today is not lost on God. God recognizes the very particular ways you are stinging and is concerned for you.
6. GOD IS NEAR TO THE BROKENHEARTED
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” (Psalm 34:18)
If you are brokenhearted today, if you are grieving, if your spirit is crushed, God is near. Make room today to get quiet and offer God your hurting heart.
7. WE CAN LOOK TO GOD WHEN WE’RE HELPLESS AND CONFUSED
“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (Chronicles 20:12)
The particular challenges our planet is facing are unprecedented. We don’t🎉 know what to do. And yet in the midst of chaos, we fix our eyes on God, who is reliable.
8. GOD RECEIVES US WHEN WE’RE OVERWHELMED
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)
When we’re weary, burdened, and overwhelmed, God is faithful to receive us and gives us the gracious gift of rest. Make time to crawl up into the lap of the Father who is ready to receive you.
9. WE ARE LOVED FIERCELY IN THE MIDST OF COVID-19
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?…No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:35, 37)
That over which we have little or no control—hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, sword, and COVID-19—is no barrier to receiving and embracing Christ’s great love for us.
10. GOD SHOWS UP IN OUR WEAKNESS
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” (2 Corinthians 12:10)
When we recognize and embrace our weakness—as we are being forced to do in these days—we are often able to see God show up in powerful ways. Keep your eyes open.
11. WE CAN CHOOSE TO TRUST GOD
“Though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” (Habakkuk 3:17-18)
Despite all the fearful reports we hear from anxious relatives and read online, we can choose daily to put our trust in God.
12. WE CAN CHOOSE NOT TO BE BULLIED BY FEAR
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)
Being told not to be afraid isn’t always so helpful, is it? But it’s possible when it’s paired with the reliable promise of strength and support from a faithful provider.
13. WE CAN CHOOSE TO RELEASE OUR FEARS TO GOD
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)
Many today are carrying a heavy load: health worries, employment insecurity, financial concerns, care for vulnerable family members, and so much more. Pause to name and release every anxiety to God.
14. LOVE IS THE ANTIDOTE TO FEAR
“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.” (1 John 4:18)
The antidote to fear is not courage, it’s love. When you choose to receive and embrace God’s love for you, fear is banished. And when practice love, you participate in banishing fear—yours and others’!
15. WE’RE MADE TO SHARE ONE ANOTHER’S BURDENS
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)
Despite the fact that our natural human impulse is to prioritize our own needs above others’, we honor Jesus when we alleviate the burdens others are carrying by sharing them.
16. WE ARE STILL BEING CALLED TO LOVE THOSE CLOSEST TO US
“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.” (Proverbs 17:17)
Adversity is a particular moment when we are called to love those closest to us. If you’re prone to be self-sufficient, allow yourself to be loved. And, of course, extend love to others.
17. WE ARE STILL BEING CALLED TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBORS
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34)
During COVID-19, our prime directive from Jesus remains our prime directive: love one another. Ask God to show you creative ways to love your neighbor in these unique circumstances.
18. WE ARE STILL BEING CALLED TO CARE FOR THE VULNERABLE
“In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 20:35)
Luke is reminding followers of Jesus that his hands met his own needs and also the needs of others. That is also our calling during these days.
19. GOD IS THE AUTHOR OF SURPRISING SOLUTIONS
“I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam.” (Micah 6:4)
In the midst of overwhelming oppression, God split the sea to redeem his people. When it looked like death had won, he raised Jesus from the grave. Today, God is still the author of surprising solutions.
20. NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM GOD’S LOVE
“Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:39)
The crisis our planet is facing seems to change and evolve daily. And yet we have confidence that whatever unknowns we may face, there’s nothing that can separate us from God’s love.
Source: Unknown
Nelson MCBS 