As I write this most of us have been in some kind of quarantine for about 3 months now. A worldwide affliction has come upon us with pressures and limitations, the kind of which, we could never have imagined. Some limitations have now visited our country, though for most of us they have been more of an inconvenience than anything else. We Americans are used to living in the “land of plenty.” I’m now in my 70’s and I never remember shortages of groceries except for a short time during the Cuban missile crisis and then nothing like those during World War II. Yet, our affliction is often more internal than external. We don’t like being told what to do, where we can’t go and what and where we can eat. For the vast majority it seems we have done well.
My first observations of people when this all began were a kind of nervousness or anxiety that lay just below the surface. There have been cases of anger and violence coming from some who have been pressed beyond their tolerance but that is the exception. As time goes by more “shaking” seems to be happening. Businesses are struggling to make it back as tremendous limitations have been placed upon them. Now we come to the Church, the people of God. How are we doing? We have to deal with all the same external pressures of the non-believing world. Yet, we have within us the “Hope of Glory!” What, or I should say, "Who" is on the inside must be greater than all that is on the outside. I keep thinking, as I’m shaken as well, “we hold this treasure in earthen vessels.” Jesus is the Treasure and I’m that weak and fragile clay jar. Recently, I was reminded of just how weak I am and how much I am really being shaken by all this. In a public situation, I was offended by someone and on the spot I reacted negatively! Yep! Me! Man of God. Representative of the Kingdom! I reacted in anger! Oh, I repented and apologized immediately but the mourning over my sin went on for a while. Why am I telling you this? Because my experience was a revealing of my condition. It was a building inspection for me personally. Building inspections are designed to reveal and fix smaller problems before they cause larger ones.
Isaiah 28:16 tells us, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste." The shaking is not supposed to remove us from the strength of the strong foundation of Jesus. Too often we can become deceived into thinking that our strength is something that is fixed in us or that we have “arrived”, and in truth, it is only fixed in Him. We can shake and fail. During these shaking times may we all take a deep breath and return to him as little children dependent upon him for our every breath and every action. May we worry less about this season passing and more about standing strong in Him for the duration. “Whoever believes will not be in haste.” May we also remember, 1 John 4:4 " for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world."
My first observations of people when this all began were a kind of nervousness or anxiety that lay just below the surface. There have been cases of anger and violence coming from some who have been pressed beyond their tolerance but that is the exception. As time goes by more “shaking” seems to be happening. Businesses are struggling to make it back as tremendous limitations have been placed upon them. Now we come to the Church, the people of God. How are we doing? We have to deal with all the same external pressures of the non-believing world. Yet, we have within us the “Hope of Glory!” What, or I should say, "Who" is on the inside must be greater than all that is on the outside. I keep thinking, as I’m shaken as well, “we hold this treasure in earthen vessels.” Jesus is the Treasure and I’m that weak and fragile clay jar. Recently, I was reminded of just how weak I am and how much I am really being shaken by all this. In a public situation, I was offended by someone and on the spot I reacted negatively! Yep! Me! Man of God. Representative of the Kingdom! I reacted in anger! Oh, I repented and apologized immediately but the mourning over my sin went on for a while. Why am I telling you this? Because my experience was a revealing of my condition. It was a building inspection for me personally. Building inspections are designed to reveal and fix smaller problems before they cause larger ones.
Isaiah 28:16 tells us, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste." The shaking is not supposed to remove us from the strength of the strong foundation of Jesus. Too often we can become deceived into thinking that our strength is something that is fixed in us or that we have “arrived”, and in truth, it is only fixed in Him. We can shake and fail. During these shaking times may we all take a deep breath and return to him as little children dependent upon him for our every breath and every action. May we worry less about this season passing and more about standing strong in Him for the duration. “Whoever believes will not be in haste.” May we also remember, 1 John 4:4 " for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world."
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