John C. Kwasny April 17, 2020
7 “Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable? 8 Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time? 9 Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” 10 Then I said, “I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High.” 11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. (Psalm 77:7-11)
I just want to go back to the way things used to be. I want life to be normal again. I want to be freed from this governmental leash! These, and other related sentiments, have certainly been bouncing around in most of our minds and hearts lately. As time has marched on, the responses to these desires have changed. At first, there were all sort of “guarantees” that this would all end soon, the invisible foe would be vanquished, and life would go back to normal again. While there are still some voices out there send those messages, the louder chorus sounds more like this: Things will never be the same. There will only be a “new” normal. The government must put in more restrictions and limits to keep us all safe into the future. No more handshakes. No more large gatherings. Proof of immunity before you can leave your home. Masks everywhere. So, what do we do with all of this?
While this moment in time is “novel” for most of us, it’s nothing new in the history of mankind. There have always been major crises, even worldwide ones, which have threatened the established order. Many of them did create a new normal, and changed how people lived their lives. Others (like Y2K, for example) threatened to undo absolutely everything, but never materialized. There have always been doomsayers telling us that “it’s all over.” There have always been those who use these opportunities to control how people live, supposedly in order to save mankind (or the planet). And there have always been the rest of us who easily submit out of either fear or duty. So again, I ask, what will we do with all of this?
In whatever ways this nation and the world continues to respond to this virus in the coming weeks and months, our response as Christians must be tethered to REMEMBERING the Lord. In Psalm 77, The author beautifully articulates the deeper thoughts of our hearts during times like this: Will the Lord spurn us forever? Will He never again give us favor? Has His love for us ceased? Are His promises over? Has He forgotten to be gracious? Do you have any (or all) of these questions in your heart as well? If so, the right answers come only when we say with the Psalmist: “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old.” Only then will we remind ourselves that NO, the Lord will not spurn us forever; YES, He will give us favor, mercy, and grace; NO, His love for us has not ceased!
But we must look back and remember in the right ways. Not just longing for the good old days when we could go to a ballgame, a concert, or even gather for worship on Sunday. Not just looking back and wanting the “old” normal rather than the new one. We are to look back in order to remind ourselves of WHO God is and WHAT He has always done for His people. Just another reason to stay in God’s Word every day! And, for spending time rehearsing what He has already done in your own story, as well as all of history. So, is life really over? Not when your life is in union with Jesus Christ who loves you with an everlasting love, and is the Lord of all Creation! Remember Jesus, the greatest “deed” of the LORD!