We find ourselves in a situation that many of us probably feel ill-equipped for. The world in which we were raised molded us to survive in a specific environment, an environment that helped protect and safe-guard us from most threats. There have been few times in the past 50 years that Americans were actually confronted with a truth that humans all throughout history have had to accept:
We are not in control.
Experiencing this fact is a freighting thing to us. We’ve always been able to rely on resources and affluence to escape calamity. Think about the wars, fires, and hurricanes we’ve gone through. So when the Christ follower finds our world being pushed on all sides by a pandemic and financial crisis, what are they to do? One answer we see from history and the scriptures, is to go to God and reflect on who He is.
And so today, I thought I would offer up a new Psalm. One that might help you to reflect on the God we worship. The God who has all things in His hands.
To the God who hears all voices muted by fear,
We lift up this cry to You.
In the darkness we find ourselves, with eyes trained only for light.
We run, but darkness follows still.
Stumbling, grasping, we cling to our shelter;
Oh God, death is near!
In a time as this, where friends are gone.
Industry has halted, the money falters, and even our food comes not.
Lord, I know, you say “Trust.”, but what did trusting bring.
Did you not hear me bravely say in the daylight “How great Thou art”?
How could I say it now? How could You be great in a time like this?
No.
Our hearts haven’t truly known You.
And yet still in this very moment, You remind us:
I AM the Lord your God.
You say you are in darkness,
But was it not in darkness that I found you?
Was I not the one who created the light which you seek?
Am I not the One who taught your eyes to bend color?
Who taught your ears to catch the invisible?
I AM.
I am the God who creates planets you’ll never see.
Melting gravity, scattering time.
It is I.
The one who guided your ancestors from distant lands.
Sending the beast to slumber in winter;
Waking each plant in its own time and spring.
It is I.
Remember now the protection I brought you in youth!
When you fell, did you perish?
When you cried, was the entirety of your world washed away?
Indeed, looking back, do you not see now how it made you better?
Was the storm of your pain endless?
Or did its winds bring you to better shores?
Did its rains not clean the tributaries of your life?
You must know, I was there,
And that your pain was My pain.
To bring you through it, knowing what was in store.
So why do you still fret?
Would your worries destroy Me?
Am I bound by the brevity of your synapses?
Was I not with Daniel in the den,
Or Paul in prison?
When Stephen died praising me, was I not still his God?
Did he not still find his rest in My arms?
Come find this rest.
I am the Father who sees what you cannot.
The One who feels what you do not.
The same God who robbed you of your sins.
The One who makes you holy.
Come and know Me.
Seated on the throne,
With every star’s hidden beauty shining on My face.
Holding justice and love for all who come to Me.
In My embrace all My creation finds the One their hearts longed for.
This is your peace.
Trust in Me all children who would seek it.
Come and know Me.
It is my prayer for you, Woodridge family, that these words would be a song for your heart during this time. Our Father sees what you’re going through, He knows your heart, and He’s calling us to trust in Him during this season. So we can praise Him knowing that all of this is for His glory, as our Savior tells us in Luke 12:29-31…
“And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.”
Josh Hill
Missions Associate
