I sat looking at my blank document screen for about 30 minutes, gave up and turned it off –this was the third day doing so. I never had such a big writer’s block. Usually, I have different topics floating in my head about Lent, Holy Week, Easter, but not this year.
You know what also did not happen this year, going to service on Holy Friday (many times with my Family), going to service on Sunday and then enjoying a feast with family or friends. Last year, I invited some friends and their young son. I cooked a rabbit, which to my dismay the kid thought I cooked the Easter bunny, but he still ate it.
This Lent, Holy Week and Easter have been and will continue to be drastically different—we got ourselves an uninvited virus. I have friends who have lost their jobs and are having a hard time getting unemployment insurance. I have friends who live alone and are going through depression. I have friends viciously fighting each other on social media over whose “fault” this was. I have friends that are at the front lines at the hospitals and have nothing but horror stories to tell. I have friends who have gotten sick, and now friends who have died because of it.
Holy Tuesday rolled around, and I went to bed early, I was just emotionally tired. I didn’t get a lot of sleep; it was thundering, and my little dog was freaking out. She has a habit of sitting on top of me and shaking violently. I was trying to calm her down to no avail. I felt bad for the dog, and I just didn’t understand why she wasn’t calming down, the danger is real, but she just needed to trust me.
A thought came to my mind that moment, part of Easter Sunday is about that—about Trusting God is bigger than this storm and finding peace.
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 1 John 5:4-5
Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. –1 John 4:4
And please don’t get me wrong, unlike the thunder my dog was afraid of, the danger is real, and it can hurt us. I know my friends’ circumstances might get worse—I pray that they don’t. I know I can get sick and this could kill me. The danger is real, but God has conquered it ALL.
He overcame the world by His death, He conquered death by His resurrection. This tribulation is bringing financial ruin, emotional stress, physical ailments and death, but remember that Jesus has conquered it ALL. We have to trust in His plan for us and remember His promise :
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
It won’t be easy to find peace during this time; I wish I could give you “10 Easy Steps to Trust God During this Time of Tribulation and Find Peace”—but everyone is different. All I can say is Pray, and keep Praying, Trust that God has overcome the world, and Wait for His Promise
Quarantining but still Loving you
Milo
