Matthew 5:6
Romans 3:21-25
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.”
Matthew 5:6
As human beings we long for things to be right; in our own lives and in the world. Most of time they are right, at least in some ways, and we manage to get through our lives with a semblance of feeling good or at least okay about the world. There are the really great times, like having good family and friends, moving into a new home or apartment and setting up your life. Maybe you’ve started a new job opportunity or a new business. Perhaps you started a new life getting married to the sweetheart of your dreams. And at some point your union you brought a new life into the world. You look into that little face and see hope and promise for this new little life. Then you have the satisfaction of seeing growth and good things come in your life; whether it is the success of your new job/business; or watching your children grow.
But then there are other times, when “the proverbial shoe drops” as they say; and life becomes extremely difficult. Perhaps your dream job/business or your marriage falls apart. Or one of your children has problems, a disability or gets into trouble of some kind. Or you go to the doctor only to hear a dreaded diagnosis... cancer or ? Maybe, or likely, it is more than just one of the things above. You realize that while there are a lot of things that are right in the world; there are also things that are just not right and you long for things to work out much better. Why is it that as much as we may want things to go well, there are times they just fall apart and disaster comes despite our best efforts?
Today, as I write this post, March 26, 2020, the entire world is in the midst of a worldwide pandemic... the Covid 19 Virus or as I call it, the “WuFlu”. My husband and I, our children have experienced pretty much all of the good things and difficulties above; the hopes and joys; as well as the stress, sorrow and setbacks. Yet in all our decades of life challenges, we have never experienced a world wide pandemic and quarantine. We have friends in their 90’s who have never experienced this. There is a lot of uncertainty and fear of what lies ahead. Will a family member or friend become gravely ill and we lose them? How long will it take to stop the spread of the disease? Will family members and/or friends lose their jobs? Their businesses? Will there even be an economy left in the wake of the disease? If the disease slows, will it come back in the fall? Will it last weeks, months or years? When will our free society return? Our economy return? When will life be back to normal again?
The answers to these questions no one really knows at this point. It is a wait and see. In the meantime, how then shall we live? In worry and fear? Where can hope be found? As much as we long for everything to be right in this world; it just won’t be in this world. If our only hope is in this world, our leaders and other people; we will be disappointed and even live in fear and stress. While our leaders are doing an exemplary job of trying to mitigate the spread of this virus through effective medications, treatments... getting needed equipment in the epicenters, encouraging people to stay home; it seems an impossible task to stop the course of this pandemic. It is literally a Pandora’s Box, and it is near impossible to put it back in. It’s like standing on a tower and opening a bag of down feathers and releasing it into a windstorm - then trying to gather all of them back. This particular virus is extremely contagious.
In my own life experience through the good and the bad, the right and things that are just not right; the only hope and peace my husband and I have found is in God... in the God who made us, the God who made you, who loves you and longs for you to come to Him. With out him in our lives right now, I don’t know how we could have made it through what we have just experienced these past three weeks.
This world is just not right, because none of us are right in our own merit. You see, as “nice” of a person as you may be, you nor I are perfectly right, we fall short of the righteousness and perfection of God. How do we get right? It is only through God that we can get right. How do we do that? The scriptures say,
“...God has shown us a way to be made right with him... by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God freely and graciously declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding his blood.” Romans 3:21-25 NLT
Yes, God has shown us a way to be made right with Him, through placing our faith in Jesus!!! In this we will find peace with God and hope in Him. There is so much more that I want to write about this. But this post is too long and the morning has slipped away for me. So, soon I will continue as there is so much more write about from God’s word that will bring hope for us now and in the age to come. Praying that God will bless you in this trial that we are all experiencing together - each uniquely in our own circumstances. Praying you will look to Him, have faith and hope in Him... talk to you again soon.
~Sheri
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