It has certainly been a challenging few months here in the Twin Cities. Things continue as they have been since the Covid-19 pandemic first appeared. Even though it was hoped for, a change in the situation is slow in coming. And what changes have been made may perhaps not remain.
When’s it all going to end? When will things be back to normal? When can we live life again?
It is unsettling. Even oppressive.
It reminds me of traveling out to my grandparents in Illinois when I was a kid. It was a 20 hour trek. We would drive it straight through from western Nebraska to northern Illinois. And I would be consigned to the way-back of the station wagon, my three older siblings taking up back seat.
How would we cope? We had to travel all the way at 55 m.p.h.
We could have grumbled and complained on those trips just like the children of Israel did on more than one occasion in the wilderness. Sure, they had food to eat. Sure they were being led by Moses, the prophet of God. Sure, God’s presence was visible among them in the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. And yet they grumbled: When were they going to get to the promised land? When was their situation going to change? When could they live life again?
For our part, we kept ourselves occupied in our car doing word searches, playing 20 questions or other such games, and listening to the radio. We knew we were traveling. We knew the trip was long. We knew we would get there. We just needed to be patient.
Of course the problem with our current situation is that we don’t know when it will end. But still, we should not lose patience. We should not stop reading our Bibles and devotional materials. We should not stop praying for one another and remaining in contact, encouraging one another. We should not stop tuning into the worship service on Sunday morning, or the Bible studies. We should not stop sharing these with others that we know who truly do need them!
In Colossians we are told simply:
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” (Col. 3:12).
A better description of our life at this moment in time and history could perhaps not be found. For we are indeed God’s chosen ones, through faith in Christ, holy and loved by God. And as He has shown His compassion and kindness towards us, especially through the humility, meekness and patience of Jesus Christ our Lord, so are we also to express the same, every single day: Compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience.
