Corona Devo 1090

What do we do in the middle of the mess?

What can we do when the (spiritual/physical/moral) world seems/feels/IS crumbling down (or exploding!) around us?

What do we do?  

~~~

Sometimes we have to ask ourselves this, and I couldn't help but ask myself this the other night...

I had just gotten off the phone with my brother to check on him--There was an explosion in a nearby factory that shook him in his office chair a quarter mile away.  

An hour later I looked out my own back window to see a dozen firetrucks and emergency vehicles surrounding the business that butts-up to our backyard.

And in the middle of all this, we were watching a based-on-a-true-story movie (The Cokeville Miracle) about a crazy man who brings a bomb into an elementary school and rounds up all of the kids and staff up into a room with him.

What do we do in the middle of life's messes?  What can we do?  

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (6) These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. (7) Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. (8) Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. (9) Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.  ~Deuteronomy 6:5-9

~~~

The answer is the exact same for a seventy-year-old as it is for a seven-year-old.

The answer came at the end of our movie.

The answer came at the end of my conversation with my brother (or anyone that we say "good-bye" with after we have had the fresh realization that we will not always have that blessing).

The answer comes in the comprehension that an explosion/a diagnosis/a death can come at any moment.

What do we do?  What can we do?

I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.  (11) I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.  ~Psalm 119:10-11

We can (and should) be reading the Bible...Studying God's Word and the lessons it teaches us (God is good, sin has consequences, God saved us through His Son).  

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”  ~Matthew 7:24

What we can do is build our lives on the foundation of God--His truths, His Almighty protection over us, and His ultimate plan for us.  God is our rock, in the midst of a crumbling world around us.

~~~

What do we do?  What can we do?  The answer is in the Book of the Bible and the foundational truths that it teaches us.  

Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”  ~2 Timothy 2:19

We've got to live (and shine!) in the cultural/moral/Biblically-ignorant mess around us--we are called to be in the world but not of it: But it isn't easy.

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.  ~Romans 12:2

The good news is...we have the Good News of Jesus and the unchanging news of the Bible. “I the Lord do not change.   ~Malachi 3:6

~~~

So, what do we do in the middle of life's messes and what can we do when things crumble and explode?  

We keep doing what we have been taught by the Bible and what the Bible has taught us:

We keep loving the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength. 

We keep keeping these commandments to be on our hearts. 

We keep impressing (these commandments) on our children. 

We keep talking about them when we sit at home and when we walk along the road, when we lie down and when we get up (Deuteronomy 6:5-7).

~~~

We keep being strong in the Lord:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. (11) Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes... (13) Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then...  ~Ephesians 6:10-11, 13-14 

~~~

The world is exploding in so many ways today.  We needn't be surprised, the Bible tells us that this will be so...but Jesus also tells us that He (alone) will provide our peace during the trouble.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  ~John 16:3

~~~

What do we do in the mess, in the explosion, in the tumult of today?  We keep doing what God and His Word have always told us to do.  And the rest will work itself out.  



Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com



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