Our theme for this month: “Life on this side of the cross.”
Our Bible verse for today: “A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever; What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 1:4; 9
Our thought for today: “Keep it in perspective”
As we near the end of our study of “Life on this side of the cross” I want to take these last three days to consider how we should be thinking about the days, weeks, months, and years ahead of us. These are difficult and perilous times that live in. A worldwide pandemic has engulfed us. We don’t know how much longer it is going to take to run its course, or if it will ever completely go away. The world economy has ground to a halt and people are suffering great financial hardships. Even once we get our economy running again, it will take years to recover from this.
So how should we, the people of God, be thinking about the future? I believe there are several important lessons we’ve learned over these last two months of devotional messages which we need to keep in mind. First, we should not live in fear. God is sovereign over all of this. We can trust Him to strengthen us and to get us through this. Second, we should not be dismissive of the severity of what we’re dealing with. The health crisis is very real, as is the economic crisis. People are suffering physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, and spiritually. Third, we are to honor God and bless others. This crisis is an opportunity for us to shine for Jesus and to bless others with acts of mercy and compassion. Fourth, we should cooperate with our healthcare and civil authorities who are doing their best to get us all through this. As long as they’re not advocating things contrary to Biblical principles, we should do our parts to be helpful.
And also, it’s important for us to keep this current crisis in its proper perspective. As bad as it is, it’s just the current crisis in a long list of disasters and calamities that have progressively and continuously engulfed the world since the beginning of time. As wise King Solomon observed more than three thousand years ago in Ecclesiastes, generations come and generations go; time rolls on; people and events are here and then they’re gone; and there is really nothing new under the sun.
There have been pandemics before. Many times. There have also been many times of economic hardship, even serious disasters like the Great Depression. There have been wars and famines and droughts and endless examples of terrible times of crisis, but all of them have passed and history has continued to unfold. The same will be true for this COVID 19 pandemic and the associated worldwide economic meltdown. As bad as it is, it is temporary.
I encourage you to stay strong in the Lord and trust Him. Do your part to help us all get through this by staying calm and by blessing others. Keep it in perspective and in time, this too shall pass.
Oak Hill Baptist Church