The fragility of life and The preciousness of life, but what else for the Christian?
Walk by faith not by sight
One of the most important ideas that run through the Bible is that of walking by faith and not by sight. Paul asserts in 2 Cor 5:7
for we walk by faith, not by sight
The context is that this world is not our home, that we long to be at home with Christ, hence we walk by faith and not by sight.
But the reality is that our sight is an incredibly powerful sense, and try as hard as we do, we are constantly being pulled back into living by sight. After all we are normally surrounded by so much that attracts us. Perhaps one of the great opportunities this virus is giving us, as it deprives us of so many of these attractions, is to refocus our goals, what we delight in, what is really important to us, and thereby to better live by faith and not by sight.
Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness
Remember in the sermon on the mount where Jesus said:
Mat 6:31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
Mat 6:32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
Mat 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Mat 6:34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
How easily we agree with those words when we have plenty to wear, plenty to eat, plenty to drink, when tomorrow holds no obvious cause of worry! But now when the shops are half empty, when the larder is running low, when the prospect is that tomorrow it will be as bad or worse, how different it all is. And yet it is then that we can practice what Jesus is here teaching, and prove God in this. Seek first His kingdom. Focus on Christ, on the gospel, on holiness and your own personal sanctification (becoming more like Christ) and let God ensure that you have whatever else He knows that you need.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
Once again, how easy it is to do that when you already feel safe and well provided for, but in these days you have a real God-given opportunity to practice what scripture commands:
trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding (Prov 3:5)
Every day we are being bombarded by secular wisdom like never before, and yes, much of it is very good and very much needed, but it remains secular wisdom! We are being told to stay in doors, but we’re not being told to pray are we? We’re being told it can affect anyone but we’re not being told that God is sovereign over it. We’re being told to trust in the NHS and the government and the scientists and in our own preventative measures, but we’re not being told to trust in God.
Now please don’t for one second ignore the right directions being given, but friend, what a wonderful opportunity to develop your trust in God! To look not to what is seen, but to what is unseen and eternal, to practice Psa 20:7 and however much trust you have put in human agencies, to put far more in the Name of YAHWEH – our God!
Dear friend, surely our great desire is that when this pandemic is over, we will not have just “survived” it, but that we will come out of it so much spiritually richer Christians than we were when we went into it!