Moving Forward…One Step at A Time

II Timothy 1:7

For God has not given us a spirit of fear; but power, love, and a sound mind.

I don’t know about you but I am feeling a little like that guy on the tightrope right now! He has thoughts of his business, and yet with all the information coming out about corona regulations, he feels like one wrong move could be a calamity.

We must move forward to get back to a functional USA, but how? Do we continue to wear masks and gloves, yet, go back to work and keep our distance? Do we visit friends and family again? Can we go grocery shopping and find the items we are looking for?

These questions and so much more plague (pun intended) our minds as we try to move forward, one very tenuous step at a time!

With all the uncertainty in our government, we cannot rely on them 100% to be our rescue. They, the government, are made up of people just like us. They have never had to deal with something like this, so, they are stepping out on that tightrope too.

I have said it before, but it bears repeating; we need the wisdom of Solomon, the patience of Job, and the purpose, or mission of Esther. I believe the examples of these three people from the Bible will give us some insight.

Solomon is our hero because he knew what to do in most circumstances. Now, he was not perfect you will find out when you read about his concubines, his doubts on life, his insecurities. But, he had wisdom. Can his wisdom be used in this situation? Of course. One of his wise rulings was with a woman who said her baby was switched with another baby-who died. He said, ‘bring the living baby, i will slice it in two, you can each have half’. Since this was not possible, the mother who birthed the child robbed from her, screamed, ‘no…give her the child, I want him to live’. Of course, Solomon presumed this would be the outcome. The child went to it’s rightful Mom. There was great wisdom in that approach. I believe this, and other wise ways that Solomon worked with his people, will benefit us. Our job as American citizens is to ‘partner’ with God and pray for those in leadership that God will give them the wisdom of Solomon.

Now we take a look at Job. He is said to have patience. He was patiently waiting while all this bad news came his way. His ‘comforters’ accused him of sin, bringing this on him. Yet he was able to tell them it was not his sin that caused all his problems. He asked God why did He allow all these calamities to fall on him? God replied; ‘where were you when I put the stars in the Heavens?, when I told the ocean where to stop?, when I told the moon where it should hide till evening?. Job did not ask any more questions. He realized that God is all powerful, all knowing, and is everywhere all of the time. Well, that’s humbling! Apparently it was not for Job to know. How can this give us insight? When we remind ourselves that we have limited knowledge, we can then hear what people with ideas are saying. Many people have the statistics, few people have insight. Our job, again, is to ‘partner’ with God and pray that God will give us the patience, and humility as we wait for the experts to receive knowledge from God about the solution.

Lastly, we can learn from Esther. Her life was a charmed one in the King’s castle! However, the King was not aware that she was a Jewess, and he had just been hoodwinked into signing a pact to get rid of the Jews, if they would not bow to him. She realized she was the only intermediary who could champion for her people. When she finally realized it, she said she would make a plea before the King and; ‘if I perish I perish’. Well, we know she did not perish. The King invited her in to tell him of her request. She told him of the evil scheme to annihilate the Jews, her people. The King listened, and spared the Jewish nation. Esther had a mission. So must we! Many people are on the health side making people comfortable, and saving lives. Many people are on another side, making decisions about how to keep the economy working. Our job, is critical too. We must hold them up to our heavenly father daily, sincerely and effectually. While they are on the front lines, we are their scaffolding upholding them in prayer. That guy on the tightrope has no one holding him up. At any minute, one wrong move could bring him to a crashing end. What is happening right now in our government is just as critical. Our American economy and our lifestyle on on that tightrope! One wrong move and… You get the picture.

Please make a commitment to do your part becoming a partner with God. We don’t have the ability to do what needs to be done, but God does. As we ‘partner with Him in our prayers, His hand will be moved! Don’t be fearful-be PRAYERFUL! Every day, many times a day, pray for wisdom, patience, and a clear mission.

Let me ask; have you been one to be critical of how the government has handled some things? I know I have. Today I am making a commitment to only talk to God in prayer about this. Anything else is just detrimental.