“He also brought them out with silver and gold, and there was none feeble among His tribes.”
Psalm 105:37 NKJV
This will be the wrap-up post of these pandemic perspective-devotionals. I know the quarantine has lasted over 30 days, but I have found myself incredibly busy despite the lockdown. In fact, as far as our personal household goes, this season has been an opportunity for God to move in some amazing ways. Sometimes I hesitate to testify of God’s awesomeness because I am aware that other people have been facing the struggle of a lifetime. I have been in that place too. I have listened to amazing testimonies (let’s say at church), while I have faced a mountain that looks impossible to climb. An amazing praise report from another can feel like a slap in the face to you when you are facing a struggle. No one likes their nose rubbed in another’s praise report. I understand that dynamic and there should be a sensitivity to everyone’s immediate circumstances, but I also have learned that I am “to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15). I have endeavored to do that no matter what circumstances I may personally be experiencing at the moment. We need to be cheerleaders for each other.
I told my wife at the beginning of this pandemic season that we would have a choice in our faith perspective. We could either believe this would be the worst time ever, or we could believe that God would somehow use this time for our good. Tracie, being the faith-filled optimist that she is, heartily agreed. Together, we have stood on the promises of God and trusted in His care and provision. We may not be able to control the “curve”, the inconveniences, the data, the interpretation of the experts, and the decrees of the civic leaders, but we can certainly control how our faith is positioned in these moments.
Enter this obscure verse in the Psalms…
The Psalmist is reflecting back to the Exodus and remembers that God didn’t “just” deliver them from injustice and hardship after 400 years of quarantine (slavery)…He brought them out exponentially better than they had gone in.
The question I face (we all face) is, “Do I really believe that God can do it again?”
I have mentioned before that the onslaught of media analysts, medical experts, economists, and political posturing is taking its toll on our belief system. Can you imagine if we were able to hear preaching and teaching as much as we hear doubt and skepticism? My guess is the average American is hearing 50 to 1 those things which undermine rather than build up their faith. This season really is a test for potential greater challenges in the future. Will the Church be tied to every earthly, natural pronouncement or will we establish ourselves in the report of the Lord? The biblical question is relevant like never before, “Whose report will you believe?”
Let me put it simply…
I believe the Gospel wins…
I believe the Lord never retreats…
I believe the only One Who can eclipse the Lord in His awesomeness, is the Lord Himself…
“Greater works than these shall you do” …
“The glory of the latter house is greater than the former” …
“Exceedingly, abundantly beyond all that we could ask or think” …
I want to ask again…
Whose report will you believe?
As for me and my house…
We shall believe the report of the Lord…
And…
We are coming out better than we went in…
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