In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, one question seems to dominate more than any other: “
WHEN?
” Just on the surface think of how many of our questions begin this way:
When will the children be able to go back to school?
When will we be able to play and watch sports again?
When will we be able to go to concerts and public gatherings again?
When will restaurants re-open?
When will we be able to return to our places of work?
When will we be able to attend church in person?
When can we resume weddings, baptisms, bar-mitzvahs, quinceaneras?
When will the stock market rebound?
When will the economy start to get better?
When will COVID-19 tests be available for everyone?
When will a COVID-19 vaccine be produced?
When will toilet paper be readily available??????
In other words;
When will things return to normal?
I believe there are three possible answers.
1) No one knows
. If this crisis has taught us anything, it is that time predictions are a moving target. A couple of weeks ago COVID-19 seemed like a minor nuisance on the other side of the world. Today the prognostications are all over the place; a few weeks, a few months or possibly a couple of years.
2) Never
. This will be the infamous “tipping point” for a new normal. Years from now people will look back on time prior to this pandemic and say, “Remember when...” The nature of life is change but how a society or culture shifts during a time of great crisis can be monumental.
3) When we place our trust in God’s unfailing love
. During this time we have seen things, thought to be almost completely secure, fail. It causes us to ask; “Is anything trustworthy or dependable anymore?” This may be a bigger question about where our ultimate trust lies (see Matthew 6: 19-21).
Nevertheless we find ourselves confronting God in this moment. It seems rather strange to ask God, who is not constrained by time, “When?”, but much of the wonder of God’s love is God’s willingness to enter into humanity’s time (see Jesus).
One place we can turn is to the Psalms. They speak with brutal honesty and sincerity about our deepest struggles. In this moment I am grateful for Psalm 13 which voices the “When” question with the words: “How long...?”
How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.
(Psalms 13:1-6 NIV)
I love how the Psalmist wrestles and works through the doubts and fears. In this journey the Psalmist arrives back at the place from whence we all come, God’s unfailing love. What is required of us is faith. What is required of us is trust in God’s unfailing love.
I guess that may seem trite to some especially in the midst of a crisis, but for me, it is the only way forward. It is the movement from “When” to “Whenever”. I can face an uncertain future with confidence whenever I trust in God’s unfailing love.
With You on Grace Avenue,
Billy Echols-Richter
Pastor
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