30 Days with the Word – January 21
30 Days with THE WORD
January 21, 2021
John 1:1-2, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. He (the Word) was in the beginning with God (NKJV).’
Psalm 91:1-2, ‘He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God in Him will I trust (NKJV).”’
This past year has been one of the most frightful years for all of us. January 2020 sailed in like a party barge, a new year, a new decade, a well-nourished economy binging on stats and surpluses. Jobs were fat and futures were flush. 20/20 – perfect vision for a profitable new beginning.
Were we ever mislead, right?! I know where I was the first time I heard the term coronavirus. I thought it was a virus one got from drinking the Mexican beer Corona, no joke. I also know where I was when I got the news my church had opted to close its doors and meet online, no in-person gatherings. I was crushed, by the way. I admit, the first couple weeks of the Stay-At-Home orders really played with my mind, toyed with my emotions, tested my resolve. I live alone; I am a homebody; I don’t go out everyday. But being told I can’t go…now that’s a different game to play. I also confess, when the orders were lifted, there was a new kid that had taken up residency in my mind. This one was reticent to run headlong outside to play. It felt foreign to go to a restaurant or a store, to return to church. I found out I kind of like having no reason to go out in public; even that thought unfurls me.
Because of 2020, there is one steadfast Word for me. Like many, I have faced loss. Grief has become a familiar face in so many of our lives and we all are rescripting the futures we were writing. (Do you suppose that God wants us to allow Him to author our content, I wonder?) Insomuch as we have found heartache sprouting in the place where contentment grew and we are forging wilderness waiting instead of simple sailing, I realize I am thankful for this past year. There is no better way to test your trust than to have it proven. I think I will always know now, no matter what touches me has first been funneled through His fist. He protects me with His hand curled around me and I am in the center of His palm, and there is nothing that cannot reach me that He has not granted permission to.
I don’t know what 2020 has been like for you and I don’t know what 2021 holds for any of us. We face daily now a pandemic health threat as well as a political unrest we have never seen to this degree. We also refuse to confront the ongoing international crisis concerning addictions and trafficking and abortions.
Everywhere I look I see a lost humanity trying to fill needs within themselves with things that were never meant to fill the void God created for Himself. But, God. At the end of the day, we can utter a sigh of relief, ‘But, God…’ and be assured that we are sheltered by Almighty God, and in His faithful promise, we can rest.
