As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“…these recent crises have had a spiritually clarifying effect on them. This generation has a spiritual hunger and a desire to grow into disciples prepared to engage a turbulent world.” - C.Today
“We can learn from Abraham by seeing every moment of waiting as an opportunity to embrace what God has given to us in the inbetween. If my husband and I decided to remain idle until he received a new job, we would have neglected the ministry God had called us to do in the meantime. Likewise, in whatever place you have found yourself, the Lord has led you there for a reason.” - Alexa Hess
When thinking about measuring time there are at least Two Clocks to consider: God’s Clock and Man’s Clock. God’s timing isn’t our timing. God’s Clock isn’t Man’s Clock. God’s timing is perfect.
It should be fall.
Oh, I know it may be a little early to say that—in this first week of August—but I have always loved fall, so every year I try to rush ahead. It is my favorite season of the year.
Where I live, in Wisconsin, fall weather generally provides the greatest comfort. Normally by the start of September the sweltering heat has largely subsided, and there is almost never an early season snowstorm.
People should be getting back into the regular routines of life right now. For many, that means that school should be starting again.
Are there any among the idols of the nations that can cause rain?
Or can the heavens give showers?
Are You not He, O LORD our God?
Therefore we will wait for You,
Since You have made all these. (Jeremiah 14:22)
Mark Twain never wrote, and almost certainly never said, “Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.” But, Twaininess aside, there’s an underlying truth. When confronted with a severely negative turn of events, it’s human nature to reject it. “No way! … this is not happening!”
We humans have a hard time dealing with uncertainty. When too much change is happening too fast, the temptations to choose certainty over truth and comfort over honest struggle are greatly intensified.
We want it all to make sense. We want it to be simple. We want someone or some group to be clearly to blame—maybe because that’s easier than seeing the difficulty as a mess too complex to understand. A villain provides certainty and feels like a measure of control.
If you’ve been reading the economic news, you’ve been seeing the same things I have. Much of the forecasting is dire, and the numbers right now are beyond disturbing.1 There’s a wide range of predictions, and even the best-case scenarios aren’t fun to think about.
Like many of you, I’m more afraid of poverty than I am of COVID-19. This could be temporary. Nobody close to me has developed the disease. People close to me have lost their jobs.
“Enjoying the fruits of your labor is a godly approach, not a godless one. Why? Because it recognizes that God himself gave you your income and material resources for this purpose.” - Thomas Overmiller
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