Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,
I pray that, despite our present circumstances, each of you enjoyed a wonderful Easter Sunday!
It was certainly very odd not being together in worship, and, even stranger still, not preaching on Easter! But it was nonetheless a glorious day! Our circumstances did not, and could not, change the reality which we commemorate on that day, our Lord’s bodily resurrection from the dead! The tomb of our Lord and Savior is empty!
It is in this spirit of joy and thanksgiving that I write today as we enter the fifth full week of the lock-down. I want to string together a few passages from Scripture under a couple of headings, and then make a comment or two about them that I pray will lift your hearts and fill you with joy and peace:
Thanksgiving
1 Chronicles 16:34– Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!
Psalm 138:2– I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.
1 Thessalonians 5:18– give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Revelation 11:17 –“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign.”
Blessings
Psalm 34:8– Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
Psalm 144:15– Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall! Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord!
Ephesians 1:13– Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places . . . .
James 1:12– Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
Over the last several weeks, many of you have commented to me that you have discovered some unexpected blessings in the midst of the pandemic. To be sure, there are some very frightening things occurring (sickness, death, job loss, and the anxiety these produce), and we do not want to minimize the significance of these painful experiences.
However, even in these terrible moments, some wonderful blessings have made an appearance! And with the manifestation of these unexpected gifts has also come both the opportunity and the obligation to give thanks to our gracious Heavenly Father.
I wonder, what are some of the blessings that you have recently known, that would have otherwise remained unexperienced had not we entered this time of difficulty and disruption?
Let me just relate to you a few of the ones that some of you have shared with me lately:
The simplification and slowing down of life.
More time with family.
Rest from the frenetic pace of daily living.
More time to read and study God’s Word.
Physical rest.
Learning to depend more fully upon the Lord’s faithful provisions.
Discovering how much you love and need the Body of Christ.
Appreciating the importance of corporate worship.
Having your idols exposed, leading to repentance and a fresh sense of God’s mercy and sufficiency.
Delighting more in Christ.
Now, many more could be added to these. But I believe that we have plenty of evidence here that the Lord is at work among us, blessings us, sanctifying us, renewing us, redirecting us, and proving over and again that He is all we need!
I would suggest that this is, for all of us, an unprecedented time of blessing! In our present adversity, the Lord is at work bestowing His love and gracious favor upon us in ways we could never experience in any other situation!
Let us give Him thanks today! Let us rehearse all of the blessings He is so richly providing for us right here and now! And let us experience and radiate the very joy of the Lord!
I love you all with all of my heart, and I am praying for you today and every day!
Mike