99.9% is not 100%

Consider: to think carefully about, especially in order to make a decision; contemplate; reflect on. What is it you think so carefully about these days? Is it your desire to have a job, but nothing is out there right now because so many businesses are closed. Is it your fear of economic doom and gloom, worry setting in the more you think upon the current state of financial woes? What decisions are there to be made today in your household? Will you need to make decisions about how to proceed with projects once left for that 'day when you have time'? Or maybe it is the decisions about what to do with your school age kiddos who can no longer attend classroom education and started their 'break' from school schedules more than a month ago. What sort of things do you contemplate? If you are like me, it may be how to adapt to the continually increasing daily needs of an aging parent, challenged to keep up with the decline and keep them safe each day. We all find there are things we have to 'reflect upon' - considering the pros and cons, if we will proceed or halt, what needs to be the next steps, and what needs our attention more than something else. As we 'consider', we need clarity and balance. To take on more than we should is not wise - to take on less than we need to is equally foolish.

And now consider this. You know well the times you are living in. It is time for you to wake up and see what is right before your eyes: for salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The darkness of night is dissolving as dawn’s light draws near, so walk out on your old dark life and put on the armor of light. May we all act as good and respectable people, living today the same way as we will in the day of His coming. Do not fall into patterns of dark living: wild partying, drunkenness, sexual depravity, decadent gratification, quarreling, and jealousy. Instead, wrap yourselves in the Lord Jesus, God’s Anointed, and do not fuel your sinful imagination by indulging your self-seeking desire for the pleasures of the flesh. (Romans 13:11-14)

Nothing is more important to us than to consider the times we are living in right here and now. Yes, we should plan for the future - this is wisdom - but the future is never assured to any of us, so we cannot 'put all our eggs in that basket'. Look back at January 1st of this year - did you for even one moment think we'd be dealing with a pandemic that would virtually put a halt on business as usual? Probably not. The future went something like finish the school year, plan that summer vacation, sneak in a few weekends away at your local fishing spot, and get the kiddos ready for the new school year with new clothes, backpacks full of supplies, and carpool schedules all organized. If you planned like this, your plans have probably changed drastically! School is not in session, vacations are cancelled, fishing spots are closed, and uncertainty surrounds the return to school. Even the church gatherings you once counted on to bring you some time with church buddies are curtailed. The times we are living in are not 'business as usual' by any means.

What else do the times we are living in right here and now tell us? I think one of the most important lessons we can learn right now is that of 'trust'. Who it is or what is it we will place our trust in is most important for us to realize. We may not have been aware of exactly where all of our trust was placed until our 'world as we knew it' began to change. At that moment when we realized the change was more than a fleeting thing, our world began to bring into view those objects of our trust. It could be our bank account, or even our relationships with others. It may have been our daily routine, or our ability just do what we wanted without much thought. Regardless of where your trust once was, we are all being challenged to consider where it is we will place our trust right now and where we will continue to place it in the future! The object of our trust is certainly subject to change unless it is placed in the unchangeable - God himself. One of the most important things for us to consider today is if our trust is in him, or something else. If we cannot say with 100% certainty that it is in him and him alone, we might just take some time today to reflect upon the things we are placing our trust in more than him. Just sayin!