It’s Sunday again – and not just any Sunday, it’s Palm Sunday.  Palm Sunday has always been special to me, particularly as a child because we literally carried palm branches down the aisles of the church, waving them wildly in a grand procession to the front of the church where we laid them, maybe on an altar or at the foot of a cross, I don’t really remember that part.  But I do remember the novelty of the palm branches.  I don’t think I’d ever seen a palm branch otherwise.

So I confess that on this gray morning, as I set out on my solitary morning walk, I found myself wondering if it was really Palm Sunday at all, because it didn’t feel or look like any Palm Sunday I had ever known.  I hadn’t gotten very far at all when I realized someone must have flipped a switch as I slept last night, because this was a different world than the one I walked in just yesterday.

The sky was gray but the grass had turned a deep green everywhere I looked. Trees were budding all around me and flowering pear trees had blossomed overnight, a beautiful, white lacy look – perfect for a special day like today.  Other trees were budding deep red, in complete contrast to the white blooms.  The forsythia was everywhere, blooming bright yellow against the emerging greenery surrounding it.

Creation knew it was Palm Sunday!  Time to praise the Creator of heaven and of earth!  COVID-19 has no dominion here, I thought, no power to silence.  I thought of what Jesus said to the Pharisees on that first Palm Sunday, when they asked Him to silence the crowds that were cheering Him and praising God as He made His way into Jerusalem.

” ‘I tell you,’ He replied, ‘if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.’ ”  (Luke 19:40)

That’s true, I thought, as I continued my walk and ran into (almost literally) the biggest, most magnificent magnolia bush I have ever seen, full of purple blossoms exploding everywhere, from top to bottom and all around.  No way to silence this breathtaking beauty, over ten feet tall and quite wide, she will not be missed. Each and everyone of her deep purple flower blossoms is shouting praise to and showing off the glory of her Creator for all to see and be made glad at the sight!

God is still on His throne.  COVID-19 is not in charge and has not won.  Everywhere I looked this truth was inescapable.  But God was not done blessing me beyond measure yet!  As I continued on my regular route, I came upon a child’s chalk art. It was at the end of the driveway so it wouldn’t be missed, but not on the sidewalk where it would be walked over and therefore fade faster.

There I saw a very large chalk heart with the words “have a great day” written on the inside of it.  Next to that were the words “this is hope” with an arrow pointing to a large chalk cross.  No more words were necessary – the cross said it all!  The cross, the universal symbol of hope for humankind.

Hope is what everyone is seeking more than ever right now because of the COVID-19 crisis.  Hope, more desirable than even toilet paper, is what is needed to see us through this time.  The absence of hope will prove more deadly than the corona virus ever could be.  This chalk artist knew the value of holding out hope to a hurting world and made her/his contribution to that cause.

Thank you anonymous chalk artist!  You were joining in with all creation this morning in making the ultimate confession, the one thing we all need to confess!

“that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”    (Philippians 2:10-11)

let that be my confession today and everyday  . . .

sincerely,      Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s confession should not come as much of a shocker since I previously confessed to being a closet claustrophobic.  So it should come as no surprise that I confess to my dislike of tunnels and I avoid them at all costs.

There is a reason people refer to, “the light at the end of the tunnel.”  The reason being, there is no light in the tunnel.  It is dark in there.  You can’t see up ahead, so you don’t know what’s coming next.  If you can’t see the light at the end, you have no idea how much further it is, how much longer your time in the tunnel will be. Sound familiar?

We all want out of the tunnel!  Tunnels are dark, unpleasant, confining, scary places that lead  to who knows where? but we hope they lead to something better on the other side, or we would never have entered into them in the first place. . .   or maybe we were forced in   . . .

Often tunnels have to be traveled alone.  They are a part of one’s solitary journey to get to the other side or to the end of whatever it might be.  But this tunnel, built by the COVID-19 virus, has swallowed all of us up and into her cavernous darkness – in one gulp she has ingested our entire globe.  She has taken us captive and dared us to find the light waiting for us at the other end of her.

We may feel like we have been left alone to find our way in the darkness.  But in this tunnel, the tunnel that COVID-19 built, we have plenty of company because no one is exempt from the effects of her presence.  So we are all crammed in this dark place together, trying to find our way out (while practicing our social distancing of course).

However, this description of the dark tunnel doesn’t really ring totally true for me. Yes, tunnels are typically dark places, devoid of all light.  And yes I am in this one along with everyone else.  but –  just as God was with Daniel’s three friends in the furnace – He is with us in this tunnel.  And His presence provides us light.  His presence is light!

How can I be sure God’s presence is here with me?  Psalm 139:7-10 is pretty clear on that subject.  “Where can I go from Your Spirit?  Where can I flee from Your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there.  If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast.”  (this is not the time to be practicing social distancing from God, holding His hand is CDC approved, I’m sure)

In fact, my Heavenly Father reassures me in Isaiah 41:13 saying, “For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.”

So God’s got me by the hand but there’s more. He is also the light in my darkness. He is the light in this dark tunnel we are all in.

“If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You.”   (Psalm 139:11-12)

In John 1:4-5 &9 I read these words about Jesus, “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.   . . .   The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.”

James 1:17 describes God as “the Father of the heavenly lights,”  Psalm 104:2 says, “He wraps Himself in light as with a garment;”.

That’s Who I have in this tunnel with me, holding my hand – the Creator who said, “let there be light!”,  the God who calls every star by name, the Father of the heavenly lights, the One who dresses in light, the One who is the light of the world.

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”   (John 8:12)

Today, I do not see any light at the end of this tunnel because I can’t even see the end of the tunnel itself.  But I do not walk this tunnel alone and I do not walk this tunnel in darkness.  The One who holds my hand to guide me through this is The Light!   

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”  (2 Corinthians 9:8)

I have what I need right now in the tunnel where there is work for me to do today – Lord, help me to redeem each day.

sincerely,       Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

they say confession is good for the soul and that must be true because I always feel better when I do – confess that is.  And I seem to have no shortage of things to confess – as evidenced by fact that I have not run out of confessions yet.  There is something about connecting over the sharing of confessions that makes me feel less alone and more included with others who also share in my confessions.

If the truth be told, I bet my confessions can outlast any corona virus.

The corona virus may be infecting a large percent of the population, but fear is infecting one hundred percent of the population right now.  Fear is the enemy of faith, hope and love.  Maybe the real showdown right now is between fear and faith – and hope and love which always accompany faith.

This brings me to today’s confession, which is a particularly painful one for me to admit to you, dear readers – one that took me by surprise today.  It is this.  I realized I am not practicing what I have been writing about in these most recent posts, which is faith over fear, today over tomorrow.  Well, I was -but then I wasn’t. Let me explain.

They moved the finish line again – the return to work finish line.  It was April 6th, then May 1rst,  what if it gets moved again?  It did.  I found myself filled with fear at the prospect of schools not reopening this school year.  Had I not read my two most recent manna posts?

God had to remind me again today, that this is what I have – today.  And just like the manna, new every morning, He will supply my needs for today.  No manna was given for tomorrow, just for that day.

God wants me to depend on Him, not on myself.  He wants me to learn to trust Him for everything.  That was the purpose of the manna.  “And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 4:19)  The Israelites in the desert experienced the truth of that statement for themselves.

Now it’s my turn to learn that lesson.  “The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.”   (Psalm 34:10)

“The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made.  The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.  The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time.  You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.”   (Psalm 145:13-16)

I have long loved those words, they are a beautiful picture of a loving Creator providing for His creation faithfully throughout all generations, despite our lack of acknowledgement of Him as our provider.

As I thought about all the unknowns and uncertainties surrounding me today because of COVID-19, I wondered  ‘how is this different truly from any other day in my life?’  School could have been closed at any time due to an overnight snow or ice or an unexpected water main break or a power outage, or because of a tornado destroying buildings, or a school shooting, or a teachers’ or a bus drivers’ strike, (both of the latter happened earlier this school year actually)  . . . the possibilities are endless and most often unforeseen –

but my question, ‘how is this different than any other day in my life?’ applies in general, not just in regards to my job.  I was not guaranteed tomorrow before COVID-19, anymore than I am now.  Nothing has changed.

“The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.   . . .   he said,   . . .  ‘I will store all my grain and my goods.   . . .   Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’  But God said to him, ‘You fool!  This very night your life will be demanded from you.’ ” (Luke 12:16-20)

Before COVID-19 life was just as uncertain, but we were better able to convince ourselves otherwise.  People were still getting sick and dying, people were still subject to losing their jobs without warning, foreclosures still took place, there were shootings and robberies and car accidents  . . .  but still we managed to convince ourselves that we were in control.

Until we had the things that define us, the things that determine how we spend our days, suddenly taken away from us.  Not just our jobs, but our entertainments and diversions, our places of exercise and of worship, our places to shop and to eat out; all places we like to go and things we like to do – in community – are now no longer available to us.

Stripped of all these things, we now must get to know who we are without them to define us.  When we figure out that we cannot make our own manna, will we turn to God?   And if we do, will we find Him there?

” ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.  I will be found by you,’  declares the Lord.”    (Jeremiah 29:13-14)

” ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ ”  (Jeremiah 29:11)

In truth, today is no more certain or uncertain than any of the days I have lived before this one.  I am just more aware of it because of current circumstances over which I have no control.  But I had no control over circumstances prior to COVID-19 either.  Maybe I had just forgotten how precious and how necessary my Heavenly Father’s gift of manna is, given to me new every morning.

Maybe I had come to take His daily mercies for granted, or maybe I thought I could sustain myself without His provision.  But I was reminded clearly today, that it is easy for fear to replace my faith when I am relying on myself.  However, when I focus on God’s sovereignty and abiding Presence, I am filled with faith, hope and love.  There is simply no room left over for fear to enter in and make a home.

Fear and faith cannot share a space, neither can worry and trust.

“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You.  Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.”  (Isaiah 26:3-4)

“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?   . . .   Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”   (Matthew 6:27, 34)

sincerely,      Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

painstakingly pondering plenty of puzzling pandemic points  . . .  I confess, that’s what I’ve been doing – after all, my calendar has been cleared, I have been divested of all my diversions, entertainments have evaporated, appointments no longer apply (even a dentist appointment is a thing of the past) which leaves me with plenty of time for pondering  . . .

and there is no shortage of things to ponder during this COVID-19 dominated time in our history  . . .   so, (in no particular order)

I’m pondering gas prices – I have never seen them this low!  Normally, this would be wonderful news but at the present time I have no where that I have to be, so I don’t even need gas right now  . . .  interesting timing  . . .

then I’ve been pondering this mystery – with no sports of any kind going on right now, not even horse racing – what are all the sports gamblers up to?  they must be really bored –

next, I want to confess that many years ago I owned a t-shirt with the words “when things get tough, the tough go shopping” on it.  How ironic that when so many are in need of ways to deal with anxiety and/or boredom, retail therapy (a tried and true course of action) is not readily available as malls and stores in general are shut down.  (groceries do not count as retail therapy)  Retail therapy would be a win/win though, therapeutic for the shopper and a boost to the economy at the same time, potentially saving both in the process  . . .

work on a COVID-19 vaccine is underway – I wonder if anyone is working on a fear vaccine?  Fear is also highly contagious and quite debilitating, often crippling or paralyzing its victims.  And fear can be fatal.  Symptoms include panic buying, greed, irrational behavior, lashing out at others, anxiety, depression, sleeplessness, hopelessness, (that’s the one that will kill you – loss of hope)  so if there ever was a fear vaccine, it would be in great demand  . . .  I’m just saying  . . .

anytime of day or night that I might happen to turn on the TV, I am given updates on Corona deaths in my county, state, country and in other countries around the world.  It is a running count, continuously changing, shown in the corner of the screen.  I am wondering, where is the running count of how many are recovering from the Corona virus every day?  I am wondering, how many people had it, recovered and never even saw a doctor, so are not included in any numbers about mortality rates of this virus?  Don’t I need to know that as well?  Isn’t hope as important as fear?   (fear filled people are easier to control than those set free by truth and hope, enabling them to think for themselves)

I am pondering how many flu deaths are occurring each day and why there is not a running count of those on my TV screen?  I am perplexedly pondering how we ever got through the pandemic of the H1N1 flu in 2009-2010 without shutting everything down, without people losing their jobs and their businesses,  without stores closing, without taking away churches, libraries, restaurants, gyms, sports, museums, concerts and of course schools and universities?  It makes no sense.  We were told nothing about H1N1, it barely made the news and certainly not the headlines.

I am pondering why the musicians at the Kennedy Center just lost their jobs and their benefits, including health insurance when there was just twenty-five million allocated to the Kennedy Center for the express purpose of keeping people employed, so they can support themselves and their families?

I have become a pondering person  . . .  when things are not making sense where do I turn?   today I turned to Psalm 36:5-9,

“Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the skies.  Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, Your justice like the great deep.  O Lord, You preserve both man and beast.  How priceless is Your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of Your wings.  They feast on the abundance of Your house; You give them drink from Your river of delights.  For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.”

I will trust in my Heavenly Father.  He fills me with faith, not with fear.

“The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?”   (Psalm 27:1)

sincerely and ponderously,      Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

today has been Sunday all day long, but I confess, it didn’t seem like Sunday at all to me.  What makes Sunday – well, Sunday – is different for each person, I’m sure. For me, Sunday means sitting in church surrounded by friends and strangers, all of us singing, worshiping, learning, gathering in some truth from God’s word, some wisdom, some hope and some encouragement to help us face whatever the coming week will bring.

Sunday church is a rest stop along the way, a refueling station, a place to come as I am, be accepted and leave a new creation.  It is a place to lay down my burden and take up my cross – which fills my life with meaning and purpose.  For me, Sunday is about experiencing and celebrating my faith in community with others.

“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”  (Hebrews 10:25)

Unfortunately, at the present time, we are forced to give up meeting together in order to accomplish the greater good of protecting each of us from this current corona virus. Technology has stepped in to fill the gap and that is gallant of her but I am finding her a poor substitute for the real thing.

Now I understand why sports lovers spend big bucks to go sit on hard bleachers to watch and cheer on their favorite sports team, when they could just as easily (and more cheaply) watch the game from the comfort of a recliner in their own home and have a better view of the game’s action as a bonus.  There is no substitute for being there in person, sharing the experience with a community of people who are just as fanatical about the team you love as you are.  The shared, face to face, personal experience is what it is all about.

We are created for connection.  We are created for community.  We do not thrive in isolation.  Isolation is actually harmful to us.  With fear spreading faster than this virus and lingering longer, it is becoming hard to distinguish the ailment from the cure.  They both have a lot of ill effects.

As imposed self isolation and social distancing continue to be the new norm, we are relying more on technology to fill the void.  I am grateful to her for doing her best, from e-learning to live streaming to video conferencing, she is doing all she can do to be all things to all people.  We would be worse off without her help.  But we are also realizing just how far short technology falls in the face of the face to face encounter.

There is no substitute for a hug and a hand shake.  We are finding that out as what we took for granted before – personal interaction – is no longer a part of our daily lives.  Sunday won’t be truly Sunday for me until community is restored to it once again.

So I confess, I am having trouble knowing what day of the week it is, without the schedule that was in place prior to the appearance of COVID-19.  Without a workweek there is no TGIF.  Although, this could be a chance for Monday to lose her bad reputation and become a more popular day of the week.  Time will tell.

In the meantime, I will wait for the day when I can say with David in Psalm 122:1,

“I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.  Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.”

what a welcome day that will be!

sincerely,      Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, dear readers, corona continues and so do its Chronicles.  Every day is a new day, with new challenges to meet and to overcome.  We have always lived in an ever-changing world.  It’s just that right now this virus has necessitated unchosen changes to our daily lives and to our social fabric, that we did not anticipate nor have we had time to adjust to in this new reality.

Now I confess that Technology and I have not always gotten along well.  Which is not a good thing for me since we are all more dependent on her now than ever before.  This is why I am happy to report an unexpected victory I experienced today with technology.

I can confess to you now that I am officially a zoomer!  (isn’t that what someone who uses zoom is called?)   It seems to me that many people are becoming zoomers if they weren’t already one.  And for us of a certain age, we are now boomer zoomers, how cool is that?

I have my oldest daughter to thank for my newfound status as a boomer zoomer, she talked me through the process, step by step.  The true test for me will be whether I can continue in my newfound status by replicating the skills I learned when I am on my own.  (some people wish for a maid or a cook, I would wish for a full time IT person to deal with technology on my behalf, so technology and I would never have to meet face to face)

Today’s other confession is this – I remember the “cocooning” craze.  Does anyone else?  This term, “cocooning” was coined in 1981 by Faith Popcorn.  (could that be her real name?)  In 1996, Time magazine cited cocooning as a major social trend in its “Year in Review” article.  In 2013, a USA Today article stated that cocooning was back and bigger than ever.  This gave rise to terms like “super-cocooning”, “uber-cocooning” and “bunkering.”

Cocooning is the phenomenon of staying home rather than going out to eat or to movies or to other social gatherings.  It has been considered trendy behavior, cool, cutting edge behavior in its time.  But what a difference a name makes!  Call it “self isolation” and suddenly it loses all its cool, it loses all of its appeal.  Of course, surrounding circumstances play a big part in that also.

With cocooning, people were choosing to stay home on their own, citing a desire to disengage from social interactions,  in order to provide themselves a respite from the busy pace of their lives, but the rest of the world was free to go on as usual around them, without them.

This required self isolation imposed upon us now, bears little resemblance to the cocooning that was so popular not so long ago.  Or does it?  Both provide a slower pace, some solitude, some time for reflection and for relationships.  But one was by choice, the other by requirement.  One took place while it was business as usual, the other is taking place while businesses are shutting down and nothing is “as usual” at the moment.

Maybe the news media should have asked us all to cocoon in place instead of to shelter in place and it would have seemed less scary and more like we were just doing those cozy, comforting things associated with the original cocooning.  But a rose by any other name  . . .  the purpose of cocooning was to withdraw from the larger society for a time of rest and relaxation.

But we can’t withdraw from the current chaos that surrounds us.  We are all too interconnected.  COVID-19 is showing us just how true that is.  COVID-19 knows no national, ethnic, economic, or social class borders, she is an equal opportunity virus, equally available to all.

What kind of a response does this non-discriminatory virus demand.?  One in which we all work together to defeat our common enemy.  The question of “who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29) from the parable of the Good Samaritan, is more relevant than ever.  And the answer still holds true today. “The one who had mercy on him.” (Luke 10:37)

We are to show mercy, extend help (as the Samaritan did to the stranger he found left for dead on the side of the road he was traveling) to anyone in our path. Everyone has become our neighbor in this global pandemic.  Our interconnectedness is being made manifest as we track the spread of the virus around the globe.

At a time in which we need each other more than ever, when we need our community around us to help us navigate through this turbulent time, we are being asked to draw apart in order to protect one another from this virus.

And so we must continue to run this race which has no finish line to the best of our abilities.  We must run with hope, with courage and with perseverance.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  (Hebrews 12:1-2)

sincerely,      Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

a manna mentality is what we need to see us through this COVID-19 crisis.

“Our Father in heaven,   . . .   Give us today our daily bread,”   (Matthew 6:9,11)

“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will rain down bread from heaven for you.  . . .  and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord.”  (Exodus 16:4,7)

“The Israelites ate manna forty years,   . . .   they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.”   (Exodus 16:35)

The Israelites received manna new every morning, just what they needed for that day, no more and no less.  (post – “manna – a message of mercy)  They could choose trust or they could live in fear that tomorrow would be the day the manna would run out or would cease to appear.  I wonder if they asked themselves as they lay down to sleep each night  . . .

will there be manna in the morning?  like the dew upon the ground-

will there be manna in the morning?  will it be enough to go around?

will Your mercy rain down from heaven?  as You reign over all from above-

will there be manna in the morning?  the proof of Your unfailing love.

 

will there be manna in the morning?  or will Your mercies run dry?

for without Your manna in the morning, we all will surely die.

the manna manifests Your glory, bread of heaven come down to earth,

freely given to us each day, greater than gold its worth.

 

there was no more manna in the morning, when we entered the Promised Land,

we fed ourselves, forgot our God, and the manna we received from His hand.

would the manna never fall again?  heaven fell silent and still –

till the miracle of the Manna in a manger appeared, sufficient the earth to fill.

 

the Manna was broken on a cross one day, multiplied a thousand fold,

enough to feed a hungry multitude, with leftovers abounding, untold.

Manna rained down from heaven once again, revealing God’s mercy, love and grace-

food for hurting, starving souls, they looked Manna in the face.

 

“the Lord Jesus the same night in which He was betrayed took bread: and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body, which is broken for you; this do in remembrance of Me.’ ”  (1 Corinthians 23-24)

“Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and broke the loaves.  Then He gave them  . . .   They all ate and were satisfied, the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.  The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.”  (Matthew 14:19-21)

“Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me will never go hungry,’ ”   (John 6:35)

 

manna, God’s broken bread for His broken people, God’s gift that makes us whole.

manna fed the Israelites in the desert each day,  bread of heaven sustaining their souls.

yes, there will be manna in the morning, it flows freely from Calvary –

there will always be manna in the morning, God’s provision for you and for me.

 

God’s mercy rains down like the manna, new with the dawn of each day,

Ours but to go out and to gather it up, to lift up our hands and to pray.

thank You, Lord, for the manna – new every morning like dew,

refreshing our souls and reminding, the One who sustains us is You.

 

there will be manna in the morning, I can sleep well tonight –

knowing God’s provision awaits me, His manna – a beautiful sight.

there will be manna in the morning, heaven’s mercies poured out while I sleep,

raining down blessings from heaven, sufficient my soul to keep.

 

thank You, Lord, for the manna, the evidence of Your care.

thank You, Lord, for reminding me, You are always there.

thank You, Lord, for giving, just enough to see me through today,

thank You, Lord, for teaching me to trust, using manna as the way.

 

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning (like the manna); great is Your faithfulness.”  (Lamentations 3:22-23)

we don’t need to hoard, we don’t need to panic buy, we don’t need to make decisions driven by fear, we don’t need to live full of fear- there will be manna in the morning!

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”   (Matthew 6:34)

sincerely,     Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ok,  confession first, then explanation.  I am a closet claustrophobic.  That’s right, it’s true.  I hide it well, I take the elevator (and hold my breath) but I don’t like feeling hemmed in.  What does this have to do with COVID-19?, you ask.

Well, with each new restriction imposed in my state, I feel an increased sense of the walls closing in.  (metaphorically, of course) but the feeling is real, nonetheless. And the restrictions do limit our movement.  There are restrictions on travel and on work and on where one can and can’t go.  As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, further restrictions just went into effect, when I thought things couldn’t get any more restrictive.

This is a claustrophobic’s worst nightmare.  A nightmare which only got worse when I opened the blinds this morning and saw nothing – not the house across the street nor the trees behind my house – I saw nothing- the world had disappeared into a thick blanket of fog, making my self isolation complete.  The fog carried with it a feeling of true isolation.

So here I am in this furnace (trial) all alone and yet not alone.  There is a wonderful truth I want to share with you all, dear readers.  It is revealed in Daniel 3:24-25.  “Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, ‘Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?’ They replied, ‘Certainly, O king.’  He said, ‘Look!  I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.’ ”

Now a little backstory here.  These are Daniel’s three friends that the king had ordered thrown into a blazing furnace, heated seven times hotter than normal. The king was having them killed in this very public way because they had refused to worship an image of gold he had commanded them to worship.

But notice something surprising.  We are told the three men were tied up before being thrown into the furnace.  “He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace.” (Daniel 3:19-20)

This story has a happy ending in that all three survive their ordeal, their time spent in the furnace without so much as a trace of ill effect.  “They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.”  (Daniel 3:27)  But that is not the surprising part.

What is unexpected is that while they were still in the furnace, they were described by the king who was watching them as “unbound and unharmed”, and as “walking around.”  And the other significant thing is that they were not alone in their furnace, there was a fourth “like a son of the gods” walking with them in their fiery furnace.

I always thought I would not be unbound and unharmed until I was through with my trial and safely past it.  But the experience of these three men, reminds me that I can be unbound, (free) and unharmed (safe) while still in my trial.  Daniel’s friends were bound before they even entered the furnace.   But they were set free in the furnace, not after it.

Who could imagine that our trials are able to free us from whatever has us bound, whatever has been holding us hostage, without our even being aware of it?  As my circumstances become more restrictive daily, I realize I am unbound, nevertheless. I am free to choose my response to the circumstances in which I now find myself.

I am free to reach out to others, to offer solace and support – I am free to worship, to pray, to write, to phone a friend, to find new ways to connect with those I cannot see face to face.  I am free to choose how I will spend this time; in fear or in faith, in despair or in hope, in panic or in peace, in seeking self or in seeking God.  I am free to choose.

The theme of COVID-19 is isolation.  The revelation of the furnace is that I am not in the furnace alone.  My God is right there, walking around beside me, every step of the way.  It is His presence that makes all the difference.  His presence brings the comfort, the peace, and the hope necessary to endure the furnace and to survive it.  His presence will see me through.  In the meantime, I am already unbound and unharmed because of my Heavenly Father’s presence abiding with me, even in this furnace.

“Where can I go from Your Spirit?  Where can I flee from Your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there.  If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast.”   (Psalm 139:7-10)

sincerely,     Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

hard to believe it has been barely more than a week ago that I started this “Corona – true confessions” series of posts.  Seems more like another lifetime ago to me and I’m guessing that is true for many of you as well.  More changes were announced last night and today in my state.  I thought everything was already as shut down as possible, but I must have been wrong.  Further travel restrictions and additional work shut downs were announced.

My new friends, the newscasters, are telling me this is the “new normal.”  Well, it may be new but there is nothing “normal” about this new way of life that we are experiencing right now.  We are social creatures by design.  God created us for relationship with Him and for relationship with each other.  That’s probably why, when asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus answered with these words,

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  . . .   And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”  (Matthew 22:37-39)

We do not thrive in isolation but in community with others.  Isolation breeds fear and fear breeds panic.  We are seeing the evidence of fear and panic in the empty store shelves, which have been laid bare by panic buying.

And so this journey continues for each of us individually and for us collectively, as we deal with this unexpected virus.  This one virus, affecting us all in so many ways, some different and some the same.  For once, we all have a common enemy, COVID-19.  We are all impacted by COVID-19, whether we actually contract this virus or not.

Never have I been more aware of how interconnected we all are, nationally and globally.  Our battle is the same battle that other countries are fighting right now as well, racing against time to find causes of and cures for and ways to curb the spread of COVID-19.

This virus appears to be as hazardous to the uninfected as it is to the infected. Many are losing their jobs, incomes, homes, businesses, health, loved ones  . . .  we all have lost what we perceived as control over our daily lives, we have lost the ability to plan our course of action and then carry it out; trips/vacations planned long ago are now cancelled, weddings postponed, conventions, business meetings, graduations, olympics, reunions – all cancelled or put on hold.

I wonder if even more than the “big” events and plans that we had made, which are now being cancelled, it is something less obvious that we have lost and are now struggling to replace.

I think it is the day to day fabric of our everyday life routines that has been ripped open and torn away from us, leaving us feeling exposed and unprotected in this new environment we do not recognize.  We long for the familiar comfort our daily routines provided us, whether it was our weekly worship at church or our daily workout at the gym or the predictability of our workday.  With our work, worship, sports, travel and entertainments pulled out from under us, on what do we stand? We find ourselves asking, who are we?

I am reminded that “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.”  (Isaiah 16:9)

Our plans may have been taken from us, (all the plans I had are certainly gone or on indefinite hold) but what we don’t have to lose is hope. No act of legislation has the power to take hope away from us.  Hope is a product of faith. And it is faith that sustains when circumstances can’t and don’t sustain us.  “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1)

We have God’s promise from his word that He will never leave us nor forsake us. We have this assurance from Psalm 23:4-5, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.  You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”

tomorrow I will continue true confessions as I revisit “Life in the Furnace”.  We are all in this same furnace together at the moment, which is ironic because even in the furnace, right when we need each other more than ever, we are supposed to be practicing our “social distancing.”

is the cure worse than the illness?    time will tell –

well, here comes my mailperson,  got to go!  (I will keep my distance, promise!)

“We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.  In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name.  May Your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in You.”    (Psalm 33:20-22)

sincerely,      Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

my self isolation continues, as do my confessions.  today’s confession no less shocking than those that have been revealed previously, but quite unexpected, nonetheless.  Of the two things I am about to reveal, I don’t know which is the more surprising – that I was able to find and to purchase toilet paper at long last or that the toilet paper I purchased – are you ready for this? – was not my usual, preferred brand!   (I told you it was shocking!)

There were not the infinite number of choices to be made as when one normally buys toilet paper because there was just a small, limited supply.  I took my allotted one pack and was deliriously happy with my purchase.  Nevermind that it wasn’t my brand, or ultra-soft or super-strong or fifteen ply or mega rolls or a certain scent or  . . .   it was toilet paper.  (you know that is one stock that should be soaring)

so, I confess, I am no longer a discerning shopper.  I will be happy with what is available and count my blessings.

next I must confess that I had no idea Ecclesiastes chapter three had a verse that spoke literally of what we are experiencing at this time.  A friend mentioned it to me and sure enough there it was in verse five.  ”  . . . a time to embrace and a time to refrain,”.

That is what we must do now, refrain from embracing.  We are practicing embracing’s opposite, social distancing.  Did God foresee this time in our history? Of course He did.  And so Ecclesiastes 3:5 is applicable to our lives today.  How incredible.  The God who knows the beginning from the end is in the midst of our circumstances right now, today.

Commerce, trade, travel are all coming to a standstill, forcing us to stand still.  We now have no where to go and no way to get there.  All vacation spots and travel destinations are shut down.  We are being stopped in our tracks. Our once overcrowded calendars are now empty.

I know my once full calendar is now empty.  Like Saul on the road to Damascus, I have been stopped in my tracks.  That’s what it took to get Saul’s attention.  God allowed Saul to become blind so that he could see clearly who Jesus really was. That revelation changed Saul’s name to Paul.  That revelation changed his life forever.

God is still in the life changing, life rescuing, life redeeming, life giving business.  It seems this time, rather than an individual, the whole world has been stopped in its tracks.  Every tribe, every tongue, every people and every nation is being impacted by the effects of COVID-19.

As I am stopped in my tracks, I look up and I listen.  “I lift up my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”   (Psalm 121:1-2)

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”   (Psalm 46:10)

I hear His invitation to me and to everyone, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”  (Matthew 11:28-30)

Rest sounds good to me, especially in the midst of this Corona crisis.  And something else I receive as I am “being still”,  His peace.

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”  (John 14:27)

Today I am reminded of Joseph’s words to his brothers in Genesis 50:20, “As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil, for He brought me to this high position I have today so that I could save the lives of many people.”

Sovereign God, bring about Your eternally good purposes from the chaos and confusion that COVID-19 has caused us.

sincerely,     Grace Day