This is a (modified) message I sent to our church family today, that I hope the Lord will use to encourage the flock at Caz, but also anyone else who needs it during these pressing, but providential, days..
Church Family,
It has been such a blessing to see a good number of you back in worship on Sunday mornings. As thankful as I am for that, I also look forward to a time when our entire congregation can gather together again- not only for worship, but for Bible study, for children's ministry, for service to the community- to be a whole family again. And though I lament these times, I am also strengthened in the knowledge that the Lord has a purpose in all we are experiencing as a church. In the Old Testament, there were years where the ground was to rest according to the will of the Lord. Every seventh year, there was a "Sabbath" year, and then one year after seven of those had occurred there was the fiftieth year called the "Jubilee" (Leviticus 25:1-22). During those "Jubilee" years, the people were released from certain debts and requirements, and the ground wasn't tilled and worked as it normally was. I'm sure there were a good many people who, during those years, didn't see that as the greatest wisdom. They would have wanted the normal routines of business and agriculture to continue as usual, for the sake of the "economy," or for the personal comforts that those routines provided. But God was teaching them to trust in Him during those years- that He would provide and care for them, since they were His people, not the world's. A good Father cares for His children, and there is no Father like the Lord. Now, I don't claim to know exactly what our God is doing during these difficult days with great detail and prophetic insight, and I do understand that the year of Jubilee (and the Sabbath year) is no longer mandated, or in effect, for God's people. However, I can see this as something akin to a Jubilee in the wisdom and purposes of God, because I know that He is teaching me (us) to trust Him during a year when normal routines are broken, and where the economy is restrained by people forced to rest. He will provide for His people, and teach them to depend on Him. This year may not have been on our calendars, but it was planned on the Lord's. Satan has a great deal of power in this world as its "prince" (Eph. 2:2), and, no doubt, he plays a part in all of this, but the "earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therin" (Ps. 24:1). All economies, all nations, all governments, and all peoples are His. He has a purpose on the earth and will work all things according to the counsel of His will (Eph. 1:11)- not according to my timeline, or anyone else's. I may want to charge forward with the regular routines of ministry (and I do), but I willingly and joyfully submit to the Master who is so much higher and holier than a lowly servant like me. He is not required to tell me all His plans or His timelines. I am grateful to know I simply belong to One as good and wise as He, and am loved more than I deserve. His grace is enough. Yes, I look forward to something more "normal," but I also look forward to a time when I can see these days with a little more perspective, in the life of our church and in our home. Surely what is now hidden from my sight will become plain, and what was left fallow will, in His wisdom, have proven fruitful. Greater insight may not be mine until I'm with Him, but I will have learned, in the meantime, that He is my Sustainer, my Deliverer, and my Rock, similar to those who were faithful to keep, and celebrate, those Sabbaths and Jubilees so many years ago. And knowing Him more deeply through it all will be more than enough for me.
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