The End of the Year is a common time for “Best of” and “Year in Review” thoughts and lists. I suspect that those articles will be dominated by Pandemic thoughts, memes, and consequences and rightfully so. I want to take the opportunity to reflect on where God is.
I cannot deny, denigrate, or devalue the suffering that many people have experienced and are experiencing this year. It is REAL. Roughly 300,000 Americans are dead from the pandemic alone. There have been enormous job losses and upheavals. These losses have dis-proportionately affected those who can least afford such trauma. No one wants such pain. Economically dis-advantaged people have even less ability to weather such a storm.
Natural disasters have pummeled several areas of the United States. Fires, floods, and winds have been exacerbated by climate change. I will paraphrase by saying “Yes, Elizabeth, there is a spirit of Santa Claus but Climate Change is more than a thought concept enacted by human will.” Climate Change is a very real product of human will.
Domestic policies have caused enormous strife and division. No matter what side someone is on, the lack of compromise and political “win at all costs – take no prisoners” political environment is continuously piling on the cumulative psyche. The damage is real.
These calamities have added many straws to the proverbial camel’s back. How can a loving God allow such devastation? How can we reconcile our image of a New Testament “Relationship Jesus” and a God who cherishes His people with the Midnight of the Soul so many of us are experiencing?
Part of my answer to this dilemma is that we naturally tend towards a limited concept of God. We need a quantifiable and understandable image of the Creator of the Universe. This is a facet of our human and therefore inherently limited comprehension of an Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Inconceivable God. We understand a plug and play God who connects organically to our lives and responds automatically to our needs. He IS omniscient and omnipotent so why wouldn’t He salve all of our bruises and bandage all of our scrapes. Loving 21st century helicopter parents keep an eagle eye over their chicks and gather them under their wings. We conveniently forget the God who abandoned His own Son at Golgotha. “Eloi Eloi Lama Sabacthani”. Matthew 27:46. God’s ways are unknowable and his means are inexplicable. He is God.
Are we destined to a futile despair wallowing in our suffering? God IS a loving God. He DID send His Son to be our sacrifice and our way to Salvation. Do we need to understand how the Covid 19 vaccines work in order for them to be effective? Do we understand how the technology in our phones works or do we just proceed to use them? (Admittedly, some people Do understand how they work but relatively very few.) Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1. We need the faith that sustains us through hard, hard times. This is not Heaven, nor is it Hell. I have heard and, to be truthful, I have said that “God will not burden us with more than we can handle”. I wish that were true. God will not burden us with more than He can handle but of course He is Omnipotent. We can have faith in our salvation. We can have faith in the knowledge that a better place awaits the faithful. We can have faith that the human spirit inspired by the Holy Spirit is resilient and hardy. We can have faith that God can supply the answers we need if not the answers we want. Toddlers need their version of understanding in order to function. Christians need understanding, also. The type of understanding we need to function may not be concrete and tangible. Psalm 46:10 says “Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” The truth of God is not that He exists to serve us but that we exist to bring glory to Him. We are His and not the other way around.
I pray for all of us that we enter the new year with renewed hope. I pray that we all find the solace we need in our faith if not in our situation. I pray that we love and support each other as the true Church. I pray, above all, that we cling to God and seek to exalt Him in our actions. I pray that we remember “Thus also Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” James 2: 17.
May God Bless you and yours in this season and always.
MeanwhileUpOnTheFarm 