When the Coronavirus Pandemic first broke out back in March, our 11 year old granddaughter Emma came from school (this was just before classes were shut down) to have lunch with us. As we ate, she said, “Adults need to talk to kids about what’s going on. There are a lot of scared kids in school.” I remember thinking, “Not just kids…” Many adults were (and still are) very anxious at what has overtaken our world.
In the midst of troubling times, the biggest need today is for peace in our hearts. So, how can we have that peace? It’s through faith. Let me give you a couple of illustrations of that.
Earlier this spring, we received word from our missionary friend Margo Hoffman in Vancouver that her husband Randy was in ICU in hospital because he had contracted COVID-19.
In an email detailing Randy’s condition, Margo wrote: “So the news isn’t encouraging. I spoke to a doctor today who told how serious Randy’s condition is. The ventilator is still completely breathing for him. He said that someone with Randy’s lung condition has a 50 – 75% chance of not surviving. That, combined with his liver failure, brings the survival rate lower to 20%.” I grieved as I read that, thinking how sad the loss of such a wonderful man to the work of God would be.
But she continued on, “Yet, God’s purposes and plans are so much higher…” and one of those, she said was that through these things, God “tests and strengthens our faith and hearts as believers.”
As I read that, I thought, “This is someone who is responding with faith during difficult times.” You see, faith means trusting God through thick or thin, no matter what He allows, that He is accomplishing His good purposes.
Entrusting ourselves in faith to God will calm the storm of fear in our hearts. Indeed, Jesus promised, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).
Just the other day, I received another email from Margo. She told of Randy’s recovery and being home the last couple of months. She wrote, “God has been so good and faithful every step of the way.” Though Randy still battles things like fatigue and he has other aches and pains he never had before, he is much, much better.
So you see, when I place my faith in Him, I experience the peace of God that passes understanding. When I take the step of faith and entrust myself to Him, I release myself from fear’s tight grip.
Our house has seven steps up from the entrance to the kitchen. When my grandson Owen was two years old, he would stand on the top step and jump into my waiting arms at the landing. One day, I had just come into the house, was taking my jacket off when out of the corner of my eye, I saw him about to jump. I caught him just in time. What was Owen’s faith? “Grandpa will always catch me.”
So also will God.
“The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Deuteronomy 33:27
Henry Ozirney was the founding pastor of New Life Church in Stonewall, where he served from 1970 until he retired in 2014. He is currently Interim Pastor at New Life Church in Teulon, Manitoba. He can be reached at [email protected] or 204-461-1105.
