This is just for fun. I’d love to give proper credit. I don’t know who wrote this, but, they summed it up perfectly.

Dear Diary 2020 Edition,

In January, Australia caught on fire. I don’t even know if that fire was put out, because we straight up almost went to war with Iran. We might actually still be almost at war with them. I don’t know, because Jen Aniston and Brad Pitt spoke to one another at an awards show and everyone flipped out, but then there was this thing happening in China, then Prince Harry and Megan peaced out of the Royal family, and there was the whole impeachment trial, and then coronavirus showed up in the US “officially,” but then Kobe died and UK peaced out of the European Union.

In February, Iowa broke down with the caucus results and the president was acquitted and the Speaker of the House took ten years to rip up a speech, but then WHO decided to give this virus a name COVID-19, which confused some really important people in charge of, like, our lives, into thinking there were 18 other versions before it, but then Harvey Weinstein was found guilty, and Americans started asking if Corona beer was safe to drink, and then everyone on Facebook became a doctor who just knew the flu like killed way more people than COVID 1 through 18.

In March, everything hit the fan. Warren dropped out of the presidential race and Sanders was like Bernie or bust, but then Italy shut its entire self down, and then COVID Not 1 through 18 officially became what everyone already realized, a pandemic, and then a nationwide state of emergency was declared in the US, but it didn’t really change anything, so everyone was confused or thought it was still just a flu, but then COVID Not 18 was like y’all not taking me seriously? I’m gonna infect the one celebrity everyone loves and totally infected Tom Hanks, but then the DOW took a plummet, and most of us still don’t understand why the stock market is so important or even a thing (I still don’t), but then we were all introduced to Tiger King. (Carol totally killed her husband), and Netflix was like you’re welcome, and we all realized there was no way we were washing our hands enough in the first place because all of our hands are now dry and gross.

In April, Bernie finally busted himself out of the presidential race, but then NYC became the set of The Walking Dead and we learned that no one has face masks, ventilators, or toilet paper, or THE FREAKING SWIFFER WET JET LIQUID, but then Kim Jong-Un died, but then he came back to life… or did he? Who knows, because then the Pentagon released videos of UFOs and nobody cared, and we were like man, it’s only April….

In May, the Biblical end times kicked off historical locust swarms and then we learned of murder hornets and realized that 2020 was the start of the Hunger Games but people forgot to let us know, but then people legit protested lockdown measures with AR-15s, and then sports events were cancelled everywhere. But then people all over America finally reached a breaking point with race issues and violence. There were protests in every city, but then people forgot about the pandemic called COVID Not One Through 18. Media struggled with how to focus on two important things at once, but then people in general struggled to focus on more than one important thing, and a dead whale was found in the middle of the Amazon rain forest after monkeys stole COVID 1 Through 19 from a lab and ran off with them, and either in May or April (no one is keeping track of time now) that a giant asteroid narrowly missed Earth.

In June, science and common sense just got thrown straight out the window and somehow wearing masks became a political thing, but then a whole lot of people realized the south was actually the most unpatriotic thing ever and actually lost the civil war, and there are a large amount of people who feel that statues they don’t even know the name of are needed for … history reasons, or to be removed, whatever…but then everyone sort of remembered there was a pandemic, but then decided that not wearing a mask was somehow a God given right, but then scientists announced they found a mysterious undiscovered mass at the center of the earth, and everyone was like DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH IT, but then everyone took a pause to realize that people actually believed Gone With The Wind was like non-fiction, but then it was also announced that there is a strange radio signal coming from somewhere in the universe that repeats itself every so many days, and everyone was like DON’T YOU DARE ATTEMPT TO COMMUNICATE WITH IT, but then America reopened from the shut down that actually wasn’t even a shut down, and so far, things have gone spectacularly not that great, but everyone is on Facebook arguing that masks kill because no one knows how breathing works, but then Florida was like hold my beer and let me show you how we’re number one in all things, including new Not Corona Beer Corona Virus.

Trump decides now is a good time to ask the Supreme Court to shut down Obama Care, but then we learned there was a massive dust cloud coming straight at us from the Sahara Desert, which is totally normal, but this is 2020, so the ghost mummy thing is most likely in that dust cloud, but then I learned of meth-gators, and I’m like that is so not on my 2020 Bingo card, but then we learned that the Congo’s worst ever Ebola outbreak is over, and we were all like, there was an Ebola outbreak that was the worst ever?

In July…. Aliens? Zeus? Asteroids? Artificial Intelligence becomes self-aware?

I want to share 4 hard facts for believers. This is against the backdrop of COVID-19. And, yes, I’m sick of having it brought up, too.

Still, this is what’s on my mind, and that’s what a blog is for, right?

4 Hard Facts

1 – Don’t act like God has fumbled the ball on COVID-19.

It’s not your responsibility to recover His fumble. He didn’t fumble. It seems that we feel that we need to be assistants to the Holy Spirit.

We fret. As if that would help. We may even cross the line over into obsessions. If the state of things occupies most of your waking thoughts, that doesn’t impress me as healthy. Of course, I’d never be guilty of that.

We research to find items that support what we’ve already chosen to believe. If your mind is already made up about some crazy-sauce conspiracy, then the tendency is to find “experts” out there who agree with you. It kinda makes you feel validated, or something like that.

If you spend a lot of time trying to figure out what’s “really” going on, then maybe you need to take up another hobby to occupy your mind … that is, unless you get warm fuzzies from worrying.

If you, as a Christian, believe “God’s got this,” then act like it.

2 – Guard your heart.

Don’t let things into it that corrupt your soul and mind. That’s more deadly than any virus. Try a news fast for a while. I’m not saying that you need to be ill-informed or uninformed. What I am saying is that if you evaluate your intake of news, how much of it is anything you can personally act upon? Don’t pay any attention to things you can’t do anything about. We can’t do anything about what’s already happened – there’s lots of blame to go around – but we can take steps to see it doesn’t happen again. You probably don’t know anyone in Wuhan, China. Don’t make yourself crazy exploring conspiracies.

3 – Be joyful.

This isn’t the same as being happy or content, of course. Joy is divine – happiness and contentment is temporal. If you aren’t joyful, it’s totally your own fault. God gives joy. If you aren’t joyful, then you are ignoring God’s grace and mercy. That is not a good plan. These are hard facts.

4 – Do NOT personalize this pandemic.

Are you ever struck while treading through social media just how selfish people can be? COVID-19 is not just about you. It never has been. We like to say “We’re all in this together.” That’s true, to a point. We are all citizens of the world. I had this fantasy about all of mankind presenting a united front against a common foe.

Maybe I forgot to factor in the fallen state of man. I don’t see a whole lot of support and affirmation among those who are of different minds as we navigate these waters. It’s like people have chosen camps and have retreated behind their barricades. The result? “If you don’t believe the same as I do regarding the pandemic, then not only are you wrong. You’re stupid.” (And if I hear the word “sheeple” one more time, I’m gonna throw up.)

So if you’re guilty of making this personal, as if the virus and all that goes with it is directed at you, you need to fix that. Other folks, other believers may not see things the same way as you do. A helpful exercise might be to stand in front of a mirror and say, “You know, I could be wrong.”

These are the hard facts of life in these days. I have spoken. Be blessed!

Joy in prison? Where’s the joy in losing freedom? (And I could say “joy in quarantine” and it’d be even more personal, right?)

I woke up this morning thinking about joy. Joy is a condition of the heart and not necessarily a feeling. It’s a state of mind that transcends circumstances.

You may feel like you’re a prisoner because your coming and going is severely limited. But if there can be joy in prison, then there can be joy anywhere. And it’s not dependent on what’s happening around you.

Here are two questions for you to answer before I go any futher:

1. What was the worst punishment you remember getting when you were a kid?
2. What do you do to lift your spirits when you’re in a funk?

So, scoot your chair in close, kids. Uncle Tony is going to tell you a story.

There is an ancient account in the book of Acts – chapter 16.

Our main characters are Paul and Silas. In verse 16, we see these guys encounter a fortune teller. This slave girl was making a good living for her owners. When Paul and Silas show up, she starts following them around – for several days, in fact – hollering “these men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved!” (V. 17, NIV).

This gets on Paul’s nerves. This girl wasn’t lying, obviously, but she wasn’t the kind of person that Paul wanted to be identified with. It made him and Silas look more like sorcerers than missionaries. So Paul commands the evil spirit possessing this girl and giving her her abilities to leave. Done.

Needless to say, the owners of the slave girl saw their livelihood dry up. Poof. So they grab Paul and Silas, drag them before the authorities, and say, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.” (V. 20). Okay, then.

Things don’t go well for Paul and Silas. Instead of a formal trial, which legally they were supposed to have, they’re stripped and beaten by the crowd – “severely flogged,” the scripture says.

They are thrown into prison. The jailer puts them in an inner cell, puts their feet in stocks, and stands guard over them.

Now things get really interesting. Joy in prison? Riiiiight.

Verse 25 says, “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.”

Imagine you’re another prisoner. You have to wonder, “What’s up with these guys? Why are they singing? What is there to pray about? Don’t they realize how bad things are for them?”

Let’s stop for a moment. This is evidence of joy in prison. Check this out – the joy these men are experiencing and displaying is not dependent on the circumstances they’re in – it’s dependent on who they have a relationship with. Hello!

You’re probably several steps ahead of me by now. You may feel like you’ve been in prison the last few weeks. At the very least, you’ve had to monitor where you go, who you’re with, and what you can and can’t do.

Have you been joyful through all that? Have you experienced joy in your prison?

Scripture says, “Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. All at once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose.” It’s worth noting that not only were Paul and Silas freed, everyone else was, too.

I’d encourage you to read the rest of the passage for yourself. It’s good stuff. You can read about the response of the jailer – who wanted to kill himself because of his perceived failure – and his question of “What must I do to be saved?” (That’s the most important question anyone can ever ask, by the way.)

When you think about there being joy in prison, that just doesn’t seem possible, now does it? In this account, though, Paul and Silas experienced joy first, and then freedom. They weren’t freed and then felt joy. Joy preceded freedom.

Man, that’s good.

Let’s wrap this thing. Let me help you today.

• You may feel that you’re imprisoned. I’m not talking about simply being quarantined. You may feel like you’re a prisoner of your thoughts and emotions.
• Maybe you are dealing with the blackest funk imaginable. You don’t have COVID-19, but some of what you’re experiencing is just as bad, just not in a physical sense.
• And yet – you can be joyful. But it’s not a joy that you can dredge up from within yourself.
• Remember – you can be unhappy and joyful at the same time. That’s a paradox, but it’s so. Happiness is transient. Joy is eternal.
• What Paul said to the jailer, verse 31: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.” Ka-pow! Boom! Think the jailer experienced joy then? Because now, the fact that all the prisoners were freed – which would have been reason for despair – was negated by the joy of his salvation.

Point – you can experience joy in prison, no matter what that prison might be.

It’s futile to try to “feel good” on your own during these challenging days. Oh, you might have moments of pleasure when you are able to have one of your favorite meals delivered, of if you score on some toilet paper. But that won’t last.

People, your unchanging, amazing joy is all wrapped up in your relationship with Jesus.

I assure you, He will sustain you in your prison. One day you’ll be free in every sense of the word.

Until then, joy is readily available. Just don’t think you can experience it with your own resources.

O be joyful.

“I’ll never be normal.” That’s pretty harsh.

What does it mean to be normal, anyway? They say normal is just a setting on a clothes dryer. Maybe normality is subjective.

But to say “I’ll never be normal” is stating that you have a crystal ball and you already know the end game.

Maybe you’ve said some of these:

• ”I can’t stop beating myself up.”
• ”I’ll never be able to set goals and stick to them.”
• ”I’ll always give in to that temptation.”
• ”I don’t think I’ll ever be the kind of person others look up to.”

And so forth. If you want to go with current events:

• ”I’ll always live in fear of catching some horrific disease.”
• ”I don’t think I can ever be as relational as I once was.”
• ”If God let this happen, then I don’t think I can ever trust Him again.”
• ”If someone got sick because of me, I can never forgive myself.”

”I’ll never be normal?” you say? That is a cognitive distortion – a “false thought,” if you wish.

It may be that the false thoughts you have make you comfortable. It’s because you’re living in a world that you yourself created.

So, for you, is there now a “new normal,” one that exists outside of what’s going on inside your head?

If you’ve had any of those thoughts I listed above, take heart. You don’t have to be stuck there.

We live in a day right now in which the culture is telling you all sorts of things. You pick and choose and sort through what you’re hearing, and then you decide how to act on what you’re thinking and feeling. Guess what? You can snap out of this crazy culture.

Maybe you’ve tried before. Maybe you’ve failed. Maybe you’ve said, “I’ll never be normal.”

Here’s the term I want you to understand. It’s overgeneralization.

It’s when you take one tiny paint drop and use it to fill in a big picture. That will get you in big trouble. It’ll cause you to wave that surrender flag and saying, “I just don’t care anymore. This is the way I am and this is the way I’ll always be.”

It’s easier to say that than it is to face your demons head-on.

Know what? If you look back on your life, you’ll see victories. They may be small and of no consequence to anyone else. But you by-golly prevailed over something.

So, when you mess up, you can’t look at that as a permanent, life-defining failure. If you look at those slips as failures, you’ll convince yourself that you’re at a dead end and there is nothing else you can do.

So here’s your assignment when you say “I’ll never be normal.”

That false thought of “I’ve failed?” Replace it with “I’ve learned.” Every misstep is an opportunity to learn.

(I know I lost some folks right then, because they’re interpreting that as some feel-good, motivational hoodoo.)

More truth: If you look back at a time when you failed and you thought that you’d never be “normal,” check this out. You’re still standing. The sun rose on you this morning. That means you learned something. Give yourself  a high five. And ask: “What did I learn from this?”

I’d contend that so many things we classify as failures actually are wins.

There are a couple of approaches to life in these days.

You can blame your heart state and your feelings that “I’ll never be normal” on external issues: The ‘Rona, your parents, your environment, your relationships, etc.

Or you can blame internal issues: Your temperament, your personality, your astrological sign (okay, please, ignore that last one.)

Most people are a mix of the two. And granted, some things are really out of your hands.

Here’s the solution, and I think it’s worth the price of admission:

Grab hold of what you can control, and make the very best of it.

In other words, own it. Try this: Make a list of what things are not in your control. Look at that list and ask: “How can I control the uncontrollable?” If you really can’t control it, let it go, Elsa. But if you can, pull that thing inside yourself and own it.

Be well. Stay safe.

I honestly can’t remember where I heard this, or I’d give appropriate credit … but there are two types of time in life – alive time and dead time.

I’m guessing you may have some time on your hands, unless you’re an essential worker. And I’ll pause to give a big shout out and much love to:

• Health care workers and medical professionals
• First responders
• Truck drivers
• Grocery, convenience store workers and other necessary retail
• Sanitation workers

There are plenty of others. These folks do NOT have the same kind of time as I do, or you either, most likely. They are away from home and family, and having any time at all is a luxury. My love and admiration know no bounds. We are redefining “hero” in these days.

But back to alive time and dead time. Most people, if they have some excess time, choose to kill it.

Killing time is more than just a saying.

Examples?

• Netflix
• Mindlessly scrolling on their phone
• Complaining or wishing their current situation away

We know these kind of people because we are those people. Ouch.

Right now, you and most of the world is on lockdown. I have yet to be able to wrap my head around that. “Surreal” is the term I keep returning to. It’s like watching a movie with no ending.

So what are we to do? I have some thoughts. I’m ready for some positive.

We can use this time to:

• Invest in ourselves
• Learn and improve
• Learn new skills
• Develop more intimacy with God

We can’t control the situation we’re in, but we can seize the moment. And how we react and use this time will determine who we are as people.

What do these days mean to you? What are you discovering? Don’t waste this.

Make your dead time alive time.

Here are my five initial thoughts. I’ll probably think of some more, but this is a starter. Hey – make your own list, too!

1. Master the art of resting. One thing I’ve heard over and over is that people are challenged by trying to be still and quiet. Ancient script admonishes us to “be still, and know that I am God.” That’s an art we’ve simply lost. I’m thinking about one specific teenager right now who was involved in everything, and I mean everything – team and individual sports, other extracurricular activities, a part-time job, in addition to “regular” school responsibilities. That kid has gone from 60 to zero virtually overnight. I bet they’re losing their mind … unless … they learn to rest. Folks, take heed. I believe all of us, with few exceptions, don’t know how to rest. What if you took thirty minutes a day just to sit in silence and just listen? I can’t tell you what you need to listen for. All I know is that you’ll recognize it when you hear it. It takes that long for all the racket and distractions in your head to settle down. Maybe you’ll hear that “still, small voice,” perhaps for the first time.
2. Make something with your hands. I’m seeing a lot of folks on social media putting together complex, involved jigsaw puzzles. That’s not my thing, but if it’s yours, or if it’s something you’d like to experiment with, good. Maybe you have some rudimentary art skills with paint, clay, or even crayons. Maybe you have wanted to try your hand at woodworking. Or working in the yard (definitely not me, but knock yourself out.) I’d even consider cooking, or writing, or a hobby in this category. That’s a big step toward making dead time alive time.
3. Read. Don’t balk. “I don’t like books,” you say. Well, I can’t fix that for you – maybe it’s just never appealed to you, or you were forced to read in school. Because of that, you said, “I’ll never read a book again.” Fine. I’d just quote Harry Truman: “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” You can read some things that are nourishing and soul-satisfying. You can read just to learn. But don’t blow off reading for sheer entertainment. Don’t hate. Don’t judge. I’m sticking with my opinion on this.
4. Wrestle with a challenging or controversial subject. I hope this makes sense in the context of dead time and alive time. Have you had a question that troubles you? For me, it might be some sticky theological issue. How, for instance, do you reconcile God’s sovereignty with free will? (I’ve read plenty from folks a lot smarter than me on this one. And since this is a question that hasn’t been definitively answered in a couple thousand years, I don’t think I’ll come up with it. But it’s fun to wrangle it … and if I want your opinion on it, I’ll ask you for it!) There are plenty of other questions you may have but haven’t had the time to dig into. I can be looking for a recipe, and two hours later I realize I’ve learned all there is to know about the Byzantine empire. Going down a rabbit hole is easy for me. Point is – be intellectually curious; now you have time to find some answers. Or maybe get more frustrated. Whatever.
5. Make a difference for someone. This is a wide-open opportunity, isn’t it? I can assure you that there are people you know and love who are in worse shape than you are. Want to move dead time to alive time? Find a need and meet it. There is so much you can do from your own home. Simply calling and checking on people is a great move. Call a local nursing home and find out if there’s a client who is especially lonely, and call and talk to them. It may be that the difference you make can happen right in your own home. Play some board games. Do crafts together. You were created by a Creator to be creative. Now’s your chance. You might just be someone’s answered prayer. Seriously.

That’s my five. One more, as a bonus:

Make a plan to celebrate when this is all over.

Because it will be.

You can have hope. Change your dead time to alive time. You and your part of the world will be grateful for it.

Jehovah-Jireh. Here’s a Bible study and a little Hebrew lesson.

I’m sharing this because it grew out of my own quiet time and was beyond encouraging. I want you to benefit from it, too.

We could all use some encouragement. Because many of us are scared.

Jehovah-Jireh is Hebrew, and is translated “The Lord Will Provide.” Of course He will; but why do we so often behave like He won’t?

I’ve written plenty in recent weeks about COVID-19, and it has occupied our minds. It’s affected and will continue to affect everyone.

Odds are you wont get the coronavirus. And if you do, the odds are extraordinarily in your favor that you will get well. I’m not factoring in high risk folks – this is for everyone else.

What will impact us all are the financial ramifications. This isn’t about the politics or stimulus package or any of that. (Well, I guess it sorta is, but that’s not my point.)

This: You may have faced a job layoff during this unprecedented time. Someone you know or love might be in that place, even if you aren’t. I don’t know the stats, but I know many, many people live paycheck to paycheck. In the very few times I’ve ventured out, I’ve been struck by the lack of traffic, of the empty parking lots, of the locked stores and restaurants.

No one is immune. Ripple effect, right?

It’s almost the first of the month, and people are legitimately wondering how they’re to pay their rent, their mortgage, their car notes, their utility bills … all that.

Can you say stress?

Well, pilgrim, check this out:

Genesis 22:14 (ESV)

So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

The Lord will provide = Jehovah-Jireh.

You can read Genesis 22 for the whole story. It’s quite familiar. This is the tale of God telling the patriarch Abraham that he was to go up on the mountain and sacrifice his son Issac.

There’s plenty to unpack there – for instance, why would God ask for pagan human sacrifice? How could Abraham be so assured that God would provide a sacrifice? What about Abraham’s words to the others that had accompanied Issac and him – “I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you?”

Whew.

Truth is, God sent an angel to stay Abraham’s hand. Abraham recognized the timeless truth that the Lord will provide, and He did.

Don’t miss this. God is Jehovah-Jireh, then and now.

God is our only provider, He and He alone. And the command is to not be afraid. Don’t be afraid. 

Cling to this truth.

Not only does God provide, He is your provider. It is literally who He is.

I know what you’re thinking, because I’ve thought it, too: “Okay, Lord, I get that. But here’s my checkbook. What am I supposed to do now?”

I’d suggest that His provision doesn’t always come in a way we’d think or expect. We’re to be open-minded and open-hearted.

Jehovah-Jireh. The Lord will provide. Our attitude should be that our hands are wide open to receive. This is beyond scary, sometimes. It’s because we can’t see the future, and what we do see looks dismal.

We’re at a place of choosing: Do we choose to believe He will take care of us?

Even beyond that, what about our emotions? Your rational mind may believe God is indeed Jehovah-Jireh, and that He will provide. Why, then, are you anxious, stressed, and an emotional wreck?

God can handle our emotions, too. If you’re scared, tell Him. Angry? He’ll take whatever you want to throw at Him. Just don’t stop there. Ask Him to heal your emotions with His perfect love.

Since God is Jehovah-Jireh, as provider He is ready to give you all He knows you need.

He won’t leave you or forsake you. He’s promised. I’d wager that, if you look back, you can point to times in your past when He provided, in ways you didn’t anticipate. So, knowing that God doesn’t change, what are your expectations of Him now?

Jesus certainly understood that there would be times when we’d say, “Lord, I don’t have a clue as to how You’re gonna work this out.” And yet:

Matthew 6:25-27

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

See any loopholes or exceptions there? Me neither.

I think in these days we need to do a lot of listening and a lot of letting go. It’s releasing your worry to God and asking Him what He wants you to learn about Himself and you.

One ancient story tells of the children of Israel who’d been set free from Egyptian bondage. They were wandering around in the wilderness, and they were hungry.

God feeds them manna.

Know what? This was a food they’d never seen before, so they didn’t know to ask for it. They didn’t even know what it was, and yet it was provided for them.

In these times of crazy uncertainty, we’re called on to trust in God, who has promised to provide what we need. Maybe it’ll be in a totally unexpected way.

Be still. Feel God’s presence. He sure does love you. He’s Jehovah-Jireh. He’ll provide for us all.

Note: There is an app available called “Abide” I heartily recommend. It’s guided prayer and meditation, and it is balm for the soul. Some of my thoughts today grew out of a prayer time from Abide a few days ago. 

Are you burning? Are you on fire?

Both of those phrases can be positive or negative, depending on where your head and heart are.

If your skin is charred and peeling off, that’s not too good. But if if you’re on fire or passionate or have an appropriate burning desire for the good, this is a virtue.

There’s another possibility – you’re burning because you’re passing through the fire.

I’m sharing this with Christians, but there are some principles anyone can apply.

Ancient script talks about this. Here’s a sampler, from the English Standard Version:

Isaiah 48:10 – Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;

 I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.

Note: This is a reprint of a blog I wrote several months ago. I felt that it was worth sharing again. It applies to all sorts of life events. Be blessed.

The indifference of God. Maybe you know what I’m talking about.

If you’re a believer, you’ve been taught that God cares for you. You’ve experienced that care, perhaps.

There have been times when I’ve rested in the arms of Jesus. Storms wail, waves crash, darkness looms, and yet I feel perfectly safe. He’s got me, in other words.

Other times, it’s as though I’ve hung on for dear life. It’s like walking to the edge of the abyss, peeking over, and knowing that one misstep is certain death.

I was taught that I would never walk alone. What about those times when you don’t sense His presence at all? And before you climb up on your spiritual high horse and try to convince me that you’ve always known He’s there, I will tell you that part of your spiritual growth process is to experience the silence of God.

This is nothing new.

If you want to take this thought to its extreme manifestation, consider Jesus’ words from the cross:

“My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?”

Jesus experienced silence. His Father God was nowhere to be found.

How are we to respond to God’s silence? Is the indifference of God even a thing?

It is not. But that’s not to say that we should interpret God’s silence as His indifference.

In the bleakest of moments, you might have said to yourself, “No one cares.” The companion thought is, “No one understands.”

These are actual possibilities, I’m sorry to say. It’s unlikely, but there are people who genuinely don’t have anyone that cares about them. And to say “no one understands” is to some degree true of all of us. No one is going to completely “get” you because they aren’t you. If you don’t always understand your thoughts and actions, it’s not likely anyone else is, either.

My Sunday School diploma gives me the authority to say this: God cares. God understands.

Don’t blow that off as simplistic or just a t-shirt slogan. I don’t think the issue is believing those statements – the problem comes in making them a reality in your life.

What can you do, then? When God is silent, are there steps you can take to assure yourself that He is indeed there and is continually present?

Try these:

1. Understand that the silence of God is not the indifference of God. God, by His nature, cannot be indifferent. He is intimately involved in every aspect of your life.
2. If you’re wondering if God cares, let me direct you toward the Cross. That’s proof aplenty.
3. God routinely takes us to places of desperation. I’d be presumptuous to try to explain why. I think it has everything to do with our personal growth and maturity in Christ. He leaves us to our own desires, and we wander far afield. Like the prodigal in the far country, He engineers circumstances to take us to a place of hopelessness. If we’re reasonably intelligent, self-inflicted hopelessness should point us to repentance. Repentance leads to restoration.
4. Part of God’s strategy with us is when He seals up the heavens and you not only don’t “hear” from Him through scripture or prayer, you can’t even tell if He’s around.
5. This is much, much different from the human “silent treatment.” That passive-aggressive tactic is deployed to make someone feel guilty or unworthy. That’s not how God rolls. Quite the opposite.
6. God’s silence is intended to move us to a place of longing. We experience a leanness in our souls. We move into a place on dependence on Him. You don’t take Him for granted anymore.
7. When the time is right – and He determines the time – He’ll break through. It’s incumbent on us to put ourselves in a place where we can hear and discern clearly.
8. Just because you can’t feel His presence is no evidence that He isn’t there. Feelings are great betrayers. Don’t base your relationship with God on how you feel.

Can you trust Him no matter what?

It’s easy to trust God when the bush is burning and you hear His voice. You can easily trust Him when the waters part before you and you can cross safely on dry land. It’s those times of silence that are disturbing.

Guess what? You are not exempt from God’s silence.

If silence serves His purposes and causes you to yearn for Him, you can count on Him to be very, very quiet.

It’s easy for me to say “hang on.” It’s much tougher to have to be the one who’s hanging. I believe your best strategy is to acknowledge that we all experience those times of silence, from the weakest believer to to the strongest saint. God trusts you enough to let you experience His silence. There is no such thing as the indifference of God. When He refuses to speak, take comfort in knowing He’s up to something big. He is going to grow you in a totally unexpected fashion.

Go with that. He’ll never leave you or forsake you.

The coronavirus, aka COVID-19, is well upon us. I’m hesitant to add my voice to all the racket, but I need to unburden myself concerning the coronavirus reality. I don’t know if I have anything new to add, but here ya go. The picture I shared is an actual unstaged photo I took Thursday at  the Walmart in Flowood, Mississippi. It’s as eloquent as a still-life.

We are capable of greatness.

1. The coronavirus reality is that some politicians and their minions are using it to score points against their enemies. I find that sleazy and low. This is not a great time for people to make accusations about what should have been done. We can’t go back for a do-over on this one. We can make wise, measured, decisions going forward, but being snarky isn’t a solution. It divides us even more. That needs to quit. We need some grownups to handle this one.
2. I’m in a high risk category, they tell me. The coronavirus reality is that I need to be prudent, as do other people my age. I’m not diabetic, I don’t have heart disease, or any of those other nasty ailments. I’ll do what I need to to avoid getting sick. If I get sick, I’ll try to get well. And I will get well, either here or in eternity. I prefer the first option, but I’m at peace with the second.
3. This may be a fool’s wish, but historically Americans have shown themselves to be a resilient group. I know I have readers in other countries, and I’m not devaluing them. I’m just speaking to what I know. We have pulled together during the most challenging days before, and have done it in record time. What a divided country we live in! Wouldn’t it be something that part of the coronavirus reality might be that we genuinely cooperate and come together to fight a common enemy. I saw flashes of that immediately after 9/11. We are capable of greatness. What happens in the next few weeks will be teach a lot about who we are.
4. There are plenty of people out there smarter than you working on this. Experts can be wrong, but I’d rather listen to a flawed expert than an assured idiot. The coronavirus reality is that, as laypeople, we don’t have all the answers because we don’t have access to all the intelligence.
5. There is a huge spiritual component in the coronavirus reality. I’ll state the obvious: God’s got this. He is not wringing His omnipotent hands. He will most assuredly use this in a manner that suits Him. Folks are panicked, worldwide. Balk if you must, but for the believer, there is no reason to be anxious. Concerned and vigilant, of course. But mindless fret? Nope. God controls every germ, virus, molecule, and atom. God has sovereign control over all of creation.
6. This is a great opportunity to display peace, hope, and simple sanity. The coronavirus reality is that those virtues are going to be in short supply in days to come. Don’t go there. Be more than that.
7. Pray, and pray without ceasing. Mike Pence was flayed in the media for praying with a group over the coronavirus reality. I’m glad he prayed. I’m glad when we all pray. Praying that you can be a source of hope and comfort to others wouldn’t be a bad place to start. Remember, too, that health care professionals are good at what they do. All healing ultimately comes from God, the Great Physician, but He uses human agents for healing to take place.
8. Don’t be afraid to laugh. I am not, not, not making light of the seriousness of this disease. But there is humor in the darkest circumstances. I’ve seen plenty of really clever memes in the last several days. If I ignore the ones in poor taste, there’s a lot that are darn funny. If you’re offended, just move on. (And before someone stuffs my inbox with comments like “Would you think it’s funny if one of your loved ones died?”, I’d think, dude, you aren’t very bright to even ask that, trying to get a “gotcha” agains me – of course it wouldn’t be funny). But there are plenty of things about toilet paper that crack me up. Humor, and especially satire, is in the eyes of the beholder. So let’s go easy on each other – we all cope in different ways. Laughing at absurdity, whether I see it in someone else or myself, works for me.

I’d rather listen to a flawed expert than an assured idiot.

I’ll wrap this by sharing a quote from one of my heroes, C. S. Lewis. These are C. S. Lewis’s words—written 72 years ago—and it rings  with some relevance for us. Just replace “atomic bomb” with “coronavirus.” It’s all part of the coronavirus reality.

In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic age?” I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.”

In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors—anesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.

This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.

— “On Living in an Atomic Age” (1948) in Present Concerns: Journalistic Essays