Find Rest

     “We’re going to be on quarantine for 18 months.”

     “The economy is going to tank—it’s going to be a worse recession than the Great Depression.”

     “Everything is going to close. Forever.”

     “Everyone is going to die.”

     “This is basically the next Plague.”

     “Are we even going to have camps during the summer?”

     “Hope you’re prepared to lose all your friends because all relationships are over. We’re never going to see anyone again. Social distancing means social isolation because relationships over a cell phone aren’t as fulfilling or meaningful.”

     “We’re going to start shooting each other over toilet paper or out of fear of this virus soon.”

     All of these I have either heard, thought, said, or read within the last week, with varying levels of facetiousness. There’s panic in our nation, and I’m guilty of what I’m sure everyone is guilty of, probably: looking up the news to make it worse. 

     Think about the headlines you’ve clicked on lately. I know which ones catch my attention: the ones that are basically, “it’s the end of the world as we know it (and I don’t feel fine).” I’ve seen articles about people getting death threats once they recovered from the virus. I’ve seen people buy up hand sanitizer and soap just to resell it for a higher price. About people calling 911 on their neighbors for coughing. About people committing suicide over isolation, loss of jobs, or a positive test result. And I’ve seen loved ones perish or be separated because of this newest pandemic. 

     And, amongst it all, I’ve seen people calling to God for worship. 

     Which, honestly should be our response. Not only in seasons of fear and upheaval, but in seasons of joy and love as well. With everything, we should draw closer to God, closer to the Person who is trying to teach us something during each time of our life, so long as we listen. 

     I admit, though, that fear is a powerful weapon of the enemy. In one of my favorite books but Shannon Dittemore, she uses the illustration of fear being a cold, black, tar-like substance that coats our entire body and can spread from one person to another. Isn’t that a wonderful metaphor for what we’re doing as a culture right now? We’re all becoming fear-mongers. 

     But the way to combat that fear is found in Jesus.

     A song that really spoke to me this week is “Find Rest” by Francesca Battistelli. Because, in the midst of all the chaos we feel, there’s a line that says: “Find rest/my soul/put your hope in God/put your hope/put your hope in God.”

     Could it be that we feel such unrest because, in some part, we have put our hope, collectively, in something other than God?

     Think about it. We put our hope in wealth: but now the economy could be tanked. (Saying, “could be,” because I’m not an economist, but even economists aren’t God and can’t foresee the future, as much as they predict it.) We put our hope in relationships: now we’re cut off from everyone, isolated and disconnected even within our own families sometimes. We put our hope in our health: now all of us could be carrying a virus that might hurt ourselves or someone else. We put our hope in education: now colleges are closed. We put our hope in our future: and now it’s all uncertain.

     But the One Thing that hasn’t changed? The One Thing that is steady? The One Thing that can see the future, can know the future, whatever diverging paths it may take?

     He hasn't changed.

     God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. 

     God’s Word, God’s Hope is a rock that never falters. 

     I’ll remind you now of a well-known story in the Bible. Maybe you’ve even sung this song in Sunday School: “the wise man built his house upon the rock/house upon the rock/house upon the rock…”

     “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.””

—‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7:24-27‬

     Right now, we’re seeing what happens when the rain comes, the streams rise, and the winds blow. We’re seeing houses built of sand collapse all around us. We’re seeing how the world is built in sand, and how anything of it is a flimsy foundation at best. But we can find rest, we can find hope, in the Rock that never collapses. (Please don’t be confused by my capitalization. I do mean Jesus as the Rock; not Dwayne Johnson as the Rock.) 

     So listen to the song. Close your eyes. Feel the rain, feel the fear, feel the streams and wind and know—Jesus is stronger than it all. The hope that is built on Him will never falter. And through the storm, He is Lord, Lord of all (“Cornerstone,” Hillsong). 

Song link: Find Rest by Francesca Battistelli