The first casualties of upheaval can be love, kindness, and patience. But crisis is also a moment when love for God & one another can spring up. For 150 days, starting on 17th March 2020, I will write 300 words based on one of the 150 psalms in the bible. How can I find and give love in the midst of coronavirus?
Maybe. Not sure. Could be. Perhaps.
Uncertainty. We hate it. We long for certainty. In the midst of the coronavirus, how many conversations have you already had that have been searching for certainty? “We’ll definitely be in lockdown until September.”; “If I catch the virus, I’ll be fine – it’ll be no worse than a cold.”; “This is gonna change the world forever, nothing will be the same again.”; “Don’t worry, it’ll all be over in a couple of weeks”……. and so on. We long for a certainty – but unfortuntely, it just isn’t there. None of us know exactly, none of us can be completely sure about anything. Hear the prayer at the beginning of Psalm 20:
1 May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. 2 May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. 3 May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings.4 May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. 5 May we shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the Lord grant all your requests.
Do you hear all the “MAYS”? May the Lord, may He, may we. These are requests, not guarantees. We don’t know how it will work out. David, who wrote the psalm, didn’t know how it would work out (you only have to look at David’s life to see the twists and turns of unpredictability). Verse 4 says “May he give you the desire of your heart.” Oh, we long for the desires of our hearts. We pray for them, and so we should. But it’s still just a “may” – it’s not a guarantee. God is working. God is certain. God knows where he is going. We aren’t sure, we don’t know how it’s going to work out – but we take hold of God’s hand and we bring Him our uncertainty, and we pray “may the Lord….”.
Our certainty is found in the the next verse. This is the thing that David is confident in:
6 Now this I know: the Lord gives victory to his anointed. He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand.
God’s anointed one is Jesus. He has, and will have the victory. This is certain – no maybe about it!
Have a blessed day. Love in Him, Matt