Be at peace

So many today are exhibiting some 'social behavior' that is contrary to what I'd have to call 'trust'. Look at the shelves in your local grocer and you will find it is almost impossible to buy even the 'thin and cheap' kind of toilet paper! The hoarding of toilet paper is very real thing - if you don't believe me, look on Amazon right now to see how many brands are sold out with a 30 day 'expected delivery' date on them! The panic is real - somehow making it impossible to purchase basic necessities - but creating havoc for those who might actually have trusted there would be cold medicine on the shelf when they awoke feeling a little punk this morning! Workplaces are shutting down, meetings are being cancelled, and you know there must be significant panic if the national and professional sporting events all cancel their season! God has a message for those who are panic-driven: "Be still, listen, and trust in me. I am your shield, your protector, and your provision."

We are confident that God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan. Romans 8:28

The virus is real. The illness can and has claimed lives (so has cancer, car accidents, faulty wiring, and overeating). There are 'right' and 'wrong' things we can, and certainly must do to reduce the likelihood of the spread. Panic is not one of those things! Panic buying is not one, either. You don't need to steal the hand sanitizer out of hospital lobbies, nor do you need to grab fistfuls of face masks from their dispensers. What you likely need to do more of is use good old soap and water to wash your hands, cover your sneezes and coughs, and be diligent to stay home if you are ill yourself. Reason should not go out the door just because a new strain of the flu manifests! God didn't stop being God just because a new virus emerges! You and I did not stop being under his protection just because the Governor, President, or world leader declared a 'state of emergency'.

Do you know what panic does? It causes us to limit our perspective - giving us a form of 'tunnel vision'. We only see what we focus on the most - we only trust what we focus on the most, too! Focus on God and panic isn't a very practical response to life's difficulties or uncertainties. Focus on the uncertainty and your mind can get carried away in all kinds of imaginary scenarios of 'what if's'. The more we panic, the less we listen. The greater our inability to listen well, the more we allow the scenario of fear to continue. Whether it is a virus we fear, or the loss of a job, relationship, or financial well-being, God wants us to remember the way out of fear is also the way into trust. If we focus on his Word, his presence, and his will, we find we enter into his peace. Remember - panic is an 'unreasoning terror' that we feel. Reason leaves us and is replaced with all manner of emotional upheaval. This is not the way God wants his kids to live - be at peace my friends. Just resting in him!