MY HOPE--MY HELP--MY HAVEN

There’s nothing like a world-wide pandemic to help put things in perspective.

Think back three to four months ago and remember what it was you were occupied with at the time. Here, in Baltimore, my grandson’s basketball season was ending, and we were starting to make plans for the baseball season. There aren’t too many things I like more than watching my grandson hit a ball. I was gearing up for him to play on the rec home team, the travel team and the middle-school team. I even went and got a brand-new sports chair and some bug-spray. Spring ball was just around the corner!

Slowly, but surely, the news of COVID-19 took over everything. What started out as annoying, ended up being truly frightening. One by one the things we thought we needed, (jobs, schools, family visits) and the things we wanted (sports, coffee shops, restaurants) disappeared from our lives. We were left to hunker down with whoever we lived with and find a way to get through this ‘unprecedented’ time.

We learned new words: quarantine, self-isolation, social distancing, hydroxychloroquine, “new normal.” We learned how to wash our hands (!) and wear masks.

The entertainment industry put out the usual PSAs: We are all in this together. You are not alone. You can do it …

Every day we learned from the news how many had died, where the new ‘epicenter’ was now, where it was going next, and that there was not enough of any of the things we needed to combat this dreadful virus. And repeatedly, right about dinnertime, we heard from the panel of experts: The worse is yet to come.

Somewhere around early March, I developed a fever and a painful headache, which lasted about 4 days. When the virus left, I had a head cold for another week or so. My doctor had no interest in seeing me – just stay home and let us know if it gets worse.

What could make me feel worse than developing a fever and headache during a pandemic?

Fear.

Fear is crippling.

The little ticker that ran across my TV screen with the always changing totals of new infections, hospitalizations and deaths, also ran across my mind.

The Facebook stories of people losing their loved ones and not being able to be with them as they died, haunted my sleep.

The tragedy of the nursing homes and the constant finger pointing of politicians, each one blaming the other side for things that are most likely out of anyone’s control, left me feeling powerless.

But then … I made a crucial decision.

I turned it off.

Slowly, but surely, I started to replace the constant message of fear with one of hope. I tuned into church services online. I spoke with my sister, and others, and got encouragement from them. I dragged myself away from the TV and opened the Bible. I exchanged the words of this world with the eternal words that come from the Throne of Heaven.

You can do the same.

Are you troubled—do you need strength to get through the day? God is your Help.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1).

Do you wonder what God’s plans are for you and those you love? God is your Hope.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11).

Is there a safe place where you can rest? God is your Haven.

You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround with songs of deliverance (Psalm 32:7).

I’m going to take a little detour here for a moment, but it's for a reason …

Too often, we think that when we get what we pray for, God loves us. And if it should be that our prayers go unanswered, then perhaps God does not love us. Maybe He is not our Help, our Hope, and our Haven.

But you only have to read the Bible to realize this is incorrect. God is not a slot machine in Vegas, or a gumball machine in the mall -- you put your quarter in and a prize comes out.

You say a prayer and BAM! you get what you asked for. God is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and His desire is for you to have a relationship with Him, and prayer is a part of the process of you getting to know Him.

If during this difficult time of COVID-19, you have had prayers go unanswered, don’t let that deter you from pursuing a walk with God. He always knows what is best for us. I’ve had some very good days over the last four months, but also some bad ones. Things have not always turned out like I would want. We have a Facebook prayer group in our church, and some of the needs are heartbreaking. But we press on in our faith, trusting that God hears us when we pray and as He said in Jeremiah – His plans for us are not evil, but He wants to give us a future and a hope. And our greatest hope is not in this world – it’s in the next!

If you would like to have the assurance of going to Heaven when you die, you must ask Jesus Christ to come and live in your heart. Jesus paid for the sins of the world by shedding His perfect, sinless blood on the cross. You only need to ask Him to come and live in your heart – He never says no! Your sins are forgiven, and your name will be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Today is your day for salvation!

If you need someone to pray with you, or would like to find a church, please go to: ggwo.org