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?
Paralysed by worry. There are a handful of times in my life when my anxiety about what might happen has gripped me so strongly.
Anxiety: the painful and disturbing unease or apprehension that stems from inappropriate concern about something uncertain [with thanks to Freedom in Christ for the definition].
You’ve got it, I’ve got. What’s the answer? Well, let’s look at Psalm 49. In verse 5, the writer asks a question:
5 Why should I fear when evil days come?
“Well stupid, because they are evil!”
But hang on, where’s out Psalm writer going now?
7 No one can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for them – 8 the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough – 9 so that they should live on for ever and not see decay. 10 For all can see that the wise die, that the foolish and the senseless also perish, leaving their wealth to others. 11 Their tombs will remain their houses for ever, their dwellings for endless generations, though they had named lands after themselves.
What’s all this? It’s simple, all the stuff we worry about, all the stuff we work for, will one day mean so little as we are all heading to the grave. Whether we are wise or foolish – we are all heading there. Whether we are rich or poor, we have no choice about our destination. If we worry our way there, it won’t delay the day of our death. No ransom is enough to buy someone back from death (or is it?). In verse 15 our writer suddenly surprises us with some good news:
15 But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead; he will surely take me to himself.
This guy, long before Jesus came, has grasped something. God can redeem him from the dead. There is an answer to the inevitability of death.
This above all is the remedy to anxiety. If I really knew in my knower that my life was redeemed, that death is not the end, that everything around me would pass, and I would be with God himself – surely I would worry less. The things that I cannot control, would seem smaller – because I know that they will all ultimately go the same way.
Let’s ask God today to show us the big picture. To show us his promise of eternity.
May you be blessed today. Love Matt