A friend of mine recently posted on face book, “I’m glad I failed!” When that’s the first line in a post, it catches your attention. Who likes to fail? Most don’t, but she meant it. As I read the rest of the post, it made perfect sense.
It seems she wanted to participate in a mission trip in another country and needed to raise funds to be able to cover costs. She’d had a history of writing successful queries requesting funds from businesses for other such programs, knowing which corporations would be supportive of the mission and her efforts.
As per her usual, she sent out fifty request letters, assuming even if 30% came back positive, there would be that much covered. Her expectations didn’t come close to what she thought she’d receive. Not one person responded to her request. She was stricken; so much so, she said she cried for days.
What she couldn’t know, however, was God’s thumbprint on all the turmoil and heartbreak she went through. God’s timing is perfect. He knows the beginning from the end and what’s going to happen long before it does. He is never surprised! God knew when the Coronavirus was going to hit. He knew people would be dying and we would be in quarantine. He knew long before my friend began requesting monies to make this trip possible, that it would be impossible for her to go!
She recognized that God was not punishing her, or not caring about what she wanted to do--- and that her dream was still noble! He was protecting her! He did care about where she would be, the germ she would be around, and the end-result, had she taken the trip.
As humans, who can’t see the vision of God, we get frustrated and angry when things we plan don’t work out the way we expect. Regardless of what we desire, God really does know best. It’s hard, however, to believe that, when we view what goes wrong as a ‘denial,’ failure, or even bullying, depending on the situation!
This germ that has our world turned upside down, leaves most of us sequestered in our homes in isolation from things we like to do and people we love. There are even those families divided by a glass door because parents want to protect their children from the illness, since they were exposed to the germ and are potentially carriers. This is hard stuff.
But God still knows best. He remains Sovereign. As our world moves closer to his return, we should not be surprised by the happenings around us. But we do need to reflect on our responses to the turmoil.
No one wants to see another person violently ill, and ultimately succumbing to death. It’s our job as Believers to lift each person, infected or not, up to the Father who holds the world in his hands, and trust his greater vision. We need to share the Good News of salvation with those who don’t believe, because let’s face it; none of us know when we will breathe our last. This pandemic, if nothing else, drives that message home in full force. Yet, regardless of what we go through, we won’t fail if we are in Christ.
It's Easter week. Celebrate God's love. Stay in His presence and stay safe, everyone!
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