I see my social media being flooded with genuine fear and anxiety as - what it feels like - the turmoil is all around us.
Fear for our jobs, fear for our family and friends, fear of what the news may be saying next - so much so that we can become so paralyzed by fear. Anticipating the next news report or political statement of what will happen next; anxious about the stores running out of items; anxious about “all the things”.
For those who do not have hope, I understand how this could feel like the world is falling apart. Even for us who love Jesus, there can still be questions, doubts, and trying to understand how to be a light in a time where it could feel like all hope is lost.
God did not leave us without hope.
He gave us His precious Word to remind us that we are not alone. He gives us accounts of His people in turmoil. Like the Israelites who were in captivity and their enemies were surrounding them - when they must have felt like God had abandoned them and everything was not turning out like how it planned. Maybe they had the doubts and questions some of us may have. “What happened to the promises He showed me? I don’t understand why this is happening. What are we going to do?”
But God.
He doesn’t leave His people in confusion or despair.
“fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous hand.” Isaiah 41:10
He speaks to them with a gentle whisper and in the stillness He says, “Do not be afraid.”
Isaiah 40-43
God - in His kindness and authority - reminds them over and over saying “THIS IS WHO I AM!” The ONE who created the heavens and the sea. The ONE who created the mountains and plains. The ONE AND ONLY GOD. And in these accounts He says to lift up our voices! Lift up voices and declare who He is in the face of adversities.
God does not only give us His Word, He gave us His Son. Jesus.
When Jesus arrived on the scene, everything changed. The awaited Promise had come.
Many did not receive Him, but those who did, received the promise of new life in Jesus.
Jesus came to restore what man had broken and didn’t just leave us with His teachings. He left us with knowing that in Him we can conquer whatever may come our way.
We as the believer are not immune to the turmoil around us. Jesus told us this in John 16:30, “I have said these things to you, that in me you have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Jesus told His disciples that there would be hardship, but this verse was not only a preparation for hardship, but that in the hardship we would have peace in HIM.
We need this reminder.
We need this reminder that Jesus came to bring us His peace and hope because He knew it would get harder. He is calling us to go deeper because now is the time - now more than ever - to declare who God is and what Jesus has done for those who do not know His Hope.
Church, right now is the time for us to come together. To put aside our differences, our offenses, our ideas and to come together. The world is hurting. The world is angry. There are people who are suffering because they do not know the peace and hope of Jesus.
Do we?
He has given us His Holy Spirit to be a vessel and light to share about JESUS! The time is now. NOW! God is working in the midst and I believe He is preparing us in this time of quarantine. Will we be ready when the regulations are lifted? Because now is the time to dive deeper and remember who our God is.
Before Jesus went to the cross to die and suffer for us He prayed this prayer for the future believers. He prayed for US. I believe it is for us now - more than ever.
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
John 17:20-26
Oh Lord, let this be our prayer. We pray that Your Bride wakes up for such a time as this and that we not hold back Your hope and love, in Jesus’ name amen.
~ Sarah Sendejas
