I have seen the goodness of God that we celebrated on Easter Sunday. I have seen Him meet me in my mess. I have seen Him restore health in miraculous ways. I believe that you could see it too.
As we watch the news and numbers and get fixated on quarantining, let us not forget what our actual problem is.
Our actual problem is that this world is not our home, but we keep trying to make our home here.
Our actual problem is that our bodies are frail because they are not made to carry us forever.
Our actual problem is that there is desperation in our homes because we are imperfect people loving each other imperfectly.
No book, or method, or vaccine is going to solve our actual problem. God’s goodness is what we need.
We are a people in need of saving and that rescue is not going to come via ambulance and ventilator. That rescue is going to come when we decide to live in the reality that this place is not our home, when we embrace that we are eternal beings built for eternity. When we start to live for “there,” we will begin addressing the problem “here,” and that is our separation from our loving Creator. That is when we will see the goodness of God.
If we are going to news stations and grocery stores for our help, we are going to the wrong places. When we hit our knees and plead with the Creator of all things to create in us hearts that are new, when we surrender our ways and ask Him to teach us His, He is our help. At the root of the problem is where we find our Savior. That is when we will see the goodness of God.
When we surrender to Him, all of the other pieces will fall into line. We will be able to hold loosely to the economy and jobs. We will be able to hold loosely to our bank accounts. We will be able to hold loosely to our health and the health of our kids…doing everything possible to make the best choices but then setting it at the altar of our God…passing it to Him and then walking away. That is when we will see the goodness of God.
The goodness of God that is present even when we lose our jobs, when we lose our health, even when we feel like we are losing our minds. Let us not miss the gift of desperation by trying to provide for ourselves what only He can provide. Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence so that our God can meet us in our time of need. It is in the place of surrender that we will find His goodness, that we will see the goodness of God.
Our God, who can move mountains, can squash this virus. Let’s take every precaution, plead with Him for mercy, and while we wait, let’s remember what our ultimate problem is and that He gave us the Ultimate Answer in His Son. Let’s not miss the answer to our needs by trying to provide the way for ourselves when He is, in fact, the only Way, now and forever.
In this time, may we see the goodness of God.
