Devotions with Pastor John

We are all grieving

How are you coping?  This week was a hard week.  More bad news.  You see how catastrophic the virus is in New Orleans and New York and elsewhere.  There is a real temptation to give in to fear.  The desire is just to run away and hide.  

There is also a lot of anger.  I see it everyday.  People are looking for something to control and someone to blame. Some very unkind things are being said.   I worry that when all this has passed the anger will really be seen.  No decision made during the moment of crisis will be exempt from analysis.  We will need someone to blame.

I see people in denial.  They tell me this is just a hoax and it's all made up.  

I see people in depression.  They can't leave their house and now they can't get dressed.  They are listless and drifting.  

And now it may need to go for more weeks.  Another month?  The signs are everywhere that things will go longer rather than shorter and more locked down than opened up.  

The people of God need to remember who they are during times like this.  It is time to let our light shine.  So let's turn to Colossians 3:12-14 where Paul says,

12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

One way we can all, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe ourselves. With compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, is to understand where people are coming from during this crisis.  They are grieving.  They are grieving the loss of their freedom, their dreams and hopes, their security, their jobs, and on and on. 

Everyone is grieving.  So, it's up to us, God's chosen people, to be patient with them and speak encouragingly to them.  Sometimes we even have to speak this way to ourselves.

We must understand the stages of grief.  They are:  denial (this isn't happening).  There is plenty of that happening now.

There is anger.  Oh, my.  So much of that.

There is bargaining.  "God, if you save me, I'll live a better life."  We'll see more of that as more people get sick.  Remember when Martin Luther bargained with God?  He was frightened, hanging on to a tree in a thunderstorm.  He called out to God, "Save me!  And I shall become a monk."  God did and Luther did.  

There is depression.  I felt so blue yesterday.  All I could do is go home.  I kept reminding myself of God's love and his promises.  But I had to sit and be quiet for a long time before it passed.

Another stage of grief is acceptance.  I suppose acceptance is like faith.  It is the realization that we will go on.  We are where we are but life goes on.  For people of faith this means we understand that only God can save us.  We can follow directions and take precautions but only God can save us.  

Acceptance, in the stages of grief, is where you want to end up.  For people of faith, it's the best place to live.  It's where you realize that God is control.  

But the funny thing about grief is that you cycle in and out of the stages a lot.  Today, you're accepting.  Yesterday you were depressed.  Tomorrow you could be angry.  This requires a lot of patience to deal with the swings.  

So this is why it is so important for us as a holy people to practice what Paul says here.  We need to practice and to speak compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience with all we meet and especially with ourselves and to ourselves.  

We live in times where we really must bear one another's burdens.  We live in times where we really need to practice forgiveness.  There is so much cycling through these stages and where people are angry with you one day they may be weeping the next day.  Be patient.  Be humble.  Forgive.  Be gentle.  Bear their burden with them.  Bear with each other.  

Times like these are when the people of God really can be the salt of the world and the light of the world.  

How can we do this?  Well, the best thing is to pray and ask God that He will help us to be the kind of people Paul talks about.  In this crisis our witness is really important.  We have a special time now to put our faith into action by being patient, humble, forgiving.  A special chance to bear with one another and all we meet.  

Thanks for reading.  God bless you.  Hold fast, Zion!  The hour of our deliverance is coming.  

Let us pray:

Dear God,

We ask you today to help those who are really in the hot spots.  Places like New York and New Orleans.  We pray that you will heal the sick, comfort the grieving, and quickly remove this plague from planet earth.  

We pray that you would alleviate the suffering of those plagued by locusts in South Asia and East Africa.  

We pray you would help us to be able to bear with one another.  Please enable us to be quick to forgive as you have forgiven us.  Help us to be patient, humble, gentle, kind and compassionate with all we meet.  We can only do this if you're Spirit dwells in us.  Give us the strength we need today to keep going and to be a blessing to others.  

We pray this all in the name of Jesus.

Amen.