During this Coronavirus situation, our church staff is sending a devotional every day to members and friends of Alcoa First UMC. My turn falls on Tuesdays, so I thought I'd share this one on my blog as well.
A female Cardinal has decided to use the front door of our little house in Maryville as her target. Every day. There are lots of similar glass storm doors in our neighborhood, but she prefers ours! I call her my Kamikaze Kardinal! She is determined, that’s for sure! And I’m amazed that she doesn’t have some kind of permanent damage from the way she crashes into that door. She either flies straight into the door from our little Japanese maple bush, or she sits on our welcome mat and flies up into the glass. Since I’m home all the time now, I’ve realized that she almost has a rhythm in her crashes because I can just about time her next hit! We even put shower caps on our rear view mirrors to keep her from hitting them, too. She NEVER gives up! Since we live in the south, all I can say is, “Bless her heart.” She certainly is determined.
Determination. With what’s happening in our world right now, we have to be determined about a lot of things: determined to do social distancing, determined to stay home. I read the other day: ‘We’re not stuck at home, we’re safe at home. One word can change your attitude and one cough could change your life.’
Another thing that we must be determined about is trusting God even when we don’t see His hand or His plan. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Okay, God. Anytime you want to reveal yourself in this, I’m open to it. But you know what? He’s already revealing himself in every situation! Just because I can’t see Him doesn’t mean He’s not working!
God’s revealing himself through the doctors, nurses, and hospital workers who are on the frontlines everywhere, doing all they can to make/keep people well…through the scientists and medical people that are working for a drug to fight this virus…for a vaccine. He’s revealing himself through all the law enforcement officers, EMTs, civil servants, the pharmacists, the people who keep the shelves stocked…and I could go on and on.
My husband, Joe, gave me an example about trusting God: "Have you ever signed your name to a blank check, and let someone else fill in the amount? Or a contract, and let someone else decide all the terms and conditions? We’ll never know the will of God if we approach it saying I want to find out God’s will before I decide if His will fits my plans."
There comes a point in our lives where we must say, God, I don’t like what’s happening, but I love You. I don’t understand all this, but I trust You.
Prayer: Father, this is a strange time, and we know we should trust you, but it’s hard. Will you please take our fears and doubts, and help us learn to trust you even when nothing is making sense right now? We don’t like what is happening, but we love you. We don’t understand all this, but we trust you. Amen.
