Solid Ground

I don’t know how things are where you live but here on the reservation and in New Mexico there seems to be heightened anxiety over COVID-19. In mid-March the state closed all public schools and at the same time our congregation stopped gathering for worship. The leadership of the Jicarilla Apache Nation put some guidelines into effect on the reservation, including wearing face masks, limiting groups sizes and instituting a curfew.

Abut six weeks ago there was community-wide testing, which identified the first active cases. There was a second round of testing and later this week there will be a third round. I believe the total number of cases has increased from just a few to 40, as of this morning. My understanding is that every tribal business is operating with the barest possible work crew, as people are encouraged to stay home as much as possible. Last week our washing machine died and I traveled to Santa Fe to pick up the replacement. It was a more inconvenient trip than going to Farmington, but Farmington is a “hot zone” for COVID-19. Robin packed me a lunch, I made two stops for gas, and only had personal contact with other people at the store, where everyone was wearing a mask and keeping their distance.

This afternoon I was reading Psalm 18, where in verse 36 David writes:

“You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip"

The whole psalm is testimony from David about the safety, protection and care that he knows in God. Verse 36 gave me pause in light of the pandemic. The various restrictions we have been living with have been going on for nearly four months. Some have been put in place by governments and some we are living with because they seem to make sense in the present circumstances. 

As July was beginning I was hopeful that come August we would make a significant move closer to “normal” for our church. But here, less than a week later, even a single step towards normal seems to be more elusive. As much as I long to gather with and preach to the congregation I’ve been called to serve the “seemingly-never-ending-circumstances-of-the-pandemic” don’t change the truth that David speaks in this psalm, especially the truth of verse 36. 

David speaks in the past tense. God gave him a wide place. His feet did not slip. But having faith in Jesus we can see that David was not only looking back, but also pointing forward. When you have faith in Jesus your place with God is certain. You are standing on a wide place right now. Your feet will not slip. Ever.

It is a truth you can find in other parts of the Bible as well, perhaps most clearly and emphatically in Romans 8. I think God for reminding me of it today through Psalm 18.

No matter what may be going on in your life right now, be it the pandemic, an emergency or crisis, or just the slow grind of hardship that never seems to lessen, know that by faith in Jesus you are always standing on solid ground.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Piling On

As many of our friends know nearly three years ago two boys were added to our household. Two brothers, ages 2 and 4 at the time, in foster care and in need of a new placement. One September evening Robin and I took them in and we haven’t looked back.

The boys are now 5 and 7. They play well together and also have a great relationship with our daughter, age 13. But they are boys, and brothers, and sometimes their play is best described as rambunctious. They'll climb on each other, occasionally “wrestling,” a form of play that sometimes becomes a bit more aggressive on the part of whomever is on top. They have three older brothers and I can imagine that if all five were together, and the play took the shape I’m describing, it would look like one of those times in a football game when the player is tackled but the defenders continue to pile on.

That kind of pile was the picture that came to mind as I was reading from Psalm 18, in verses 17-18, which read:

“He rescued me from my strong enemy
    and from those who hated me,
    for they were too mighty for me.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity,”

“They confronted me in the day of my calamity” is another way of saying “things were bad and I was struggling, and they jumped on me some more, to make it all even worse.”

We can have days like that, or even seasons of life. Things are hard, life seems dark, and yet things get harder, the darkness gets deeper. But for God’s people, that is never the end of the story, or even the chapter or page in the book of our life. In the last half of verse 18 the psalmist speaks from the truth of his lived experience, saying:

“but the Lord was my support.”

Things were bad, and seeming to get worse, but the Lord was present, providing his strength to the one he loved.

The Psalms were written nearly 3,000 years ago but the truth that they speak to God’s children has never changed. The next time you feel as if life is piling on you remember that it is the Lord who is your support. In all things. At all times. In all ways. Amen.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.