"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Last weekend I met with 2 other guys at the Perkins restaurant for a time of challenging each other with our Navigator 2:7 memory verses. These guys have been with me long before I lost my daughter Maria when the post surgical medication she was on failed to metabolize in her blood stream. We always ended our gatherings with a word of prayer for each other's children, our spouses and any other issues that required urgent prayer.
Rick, one of the guys in our group, shared about his dad's recent death and being down in Worthington, Minnesota. He shared about a former member of our Church who lost her step mom and younger sister to a tragedy when her step brother, who suffered very serious mental health problem, severely beat them in the basement of their home. The husband of this former member told Rick that they probably will not live much longer. Rick said there were 100's of towns people, friends, and family who made their pilgrimage to the Worthington area to pay respects for those who died.
As I listened, I discovered that this same former member, when she was a little girl, lost her biological mom and younger sister when they were involved in a serious car accident. She and her dad survived, the others didn't. I remembered when the Department of Health talking about the funeral in Worthington, Minnesota where new cases of the Corona virus were found.
We have become so filled with fear and anxiety that just paying respects and comfort to the family members who experience the unfortunate tragedy of loss that it keeps us from going to that place for fear that it would become a super spreader event of the corona virus. We lose all rationality and common sense with wearing facemasks and maintaining a reasonable social distance and instead we avoid going to funerals, celebration of life services, or simply sitting with a friend experiencing this tragedy.
This is pandemic grieving. In the beginning of the years, I heard stories where family members could not say goodbye to their loved ones who were slipping away because of the corona virus. They were not allowing friends to visit the deceased loved one, and instead many funeral homes were doing drive-up reviewal of the deceased person. Today, we have become so fearful of this virus that we're all working from home, watching our church services on line, and on the weekends we're making that trip to the big box retailers for this weeks essentials. We have become so filled with fear that the fear is impacting our happiness.
When God created mankind, he created us to be in fellowship with Him and each other. We were uniquely designed by God with a gifted set of DNA to be a blessing for others. We must not lose sight that if we wear the required surgical face mask and social distance at least 6 feet we can safely resume life's activities just as we did before the onset of this virus. We cannot be fearful of the CDC and World health organization as they provide us with nearly daily updates on this virus. The promising news is there are several vaccines that have been tested and soon will become available for the general public once it passes the final FDA approval.
In the meantime, if we wear the facemask we can resume providing comfort to people encountering the loss of a loved one.
The song I included on this blot was a song I listened to as a young adult in the 1970's. It is a reminder for all of us today that when our burdens become so heavy to carry we should bring them to Jesus who will help us carry those burdens.
I accepted Jesus Christ in the spring of 1974 and through good times and not so good times, Jesus has always been there for me. Where is Jesus right now in your life? He wants you to open the door to your life and let him come in to help you on your life's journey, a journey of fear brought on by this virus. Here is a simple prayer you can say to invite Jesus Christ into your life:
Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior.
If you said that prayer while truly meaning it, you can be assured that Jesus Christ is at this moment in your heart where he promises to journey with you through the difficult days ahead. I'm a optimist and I believe that better days are ahead because of the hardworking scientists as they come up with a vaccine to finally win the battle over this virus.
As a new believer in Christ, your mission would be to grow in your relationship with God by reading the 4 gospels- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Be sure to tell someone about praying that prayer of salvation and remembering that date on your calendar.
My experience in life has taught me that God is truly amazing. Like a good shepherd herding a flock of sheep, God will guide you around the pitfalls of life.
He is an amazing God!
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