Complicated Hope

When the words “unprecedented times” appear on my screen or find their way to my ears, my head automatically drops, my eyes involuntarily roll, and I must consciously lock my jaw tight against sarcasm and angry words that bubble to the tip of my tongue.

The Influenza epidemic of 1200 BC; Plague of Athens 429-426 BC; Plagues in 250, 590, 664, 1582, 1592, 1629 – just for starters. Oh, don’t forget the Black Death. Typhus outbreaks; SARS; HIV; Ebola; Influenza; Yellow Fever; Cholera; Polio; Dengue Fever. Though these are not all classified as “Pandemics”, most of these effected the known world of that time period.

Even today – there is a new Ebola outbreak in the Congo – doesn’t make the news much.

“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 1:9

The name of the disease may have changed, but what has not changed?

FEAR

Each “unprecedented moment” moves us out of our comfort zone and fear easily finds a place to live and grow.

What hasn’t changed:

Jesus Christ.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8

This doesn’t mean things get easier, it means we focus on our HOPE – just as God saw His children through other epidemics and tragedies, He will walk through the fire with us. We won’t burn, we won’t drown, we won’t be crushed – we may feel the heat, splash in water and have great pressure, but God will be there!

We must remember – Who God is and What Jesus said to us. Then we can take these hard times and know they will not last, but we will!

“We are hard pressed on every side – but not crushed. We are perplexed, but we do not despair. We are persecuted but we have not been abandoned. We may be struck down, but we are not destroyed.” 2 Corinthians 4:8,9

Love Always, Miss Kim