These are definitely uncertain times. Everything feels chaotic and unknown. You kind of just want to hide in your bed and cry until it's all over.
This has been a hard season in my personal life. With personal things going on, my health has also been iffy. I've endured the stomach virus, ulcers, the flu, a sinus infection, and now pneumonia all since December. And now this whole COVID-19 mess taking over our planet, 2020 has proven to be pretty crappy and we're only 3 months in.
I don't tend to watch the news because it's overwhelmingly negative. Tonight I just happened to catch the news for a few minutes to find out that Italy has seen 10,000 deaths because of this virus. 10,000 people are no longer on this planet. 10,000 loved ones have passed away. 10,000. And that's just in Italy. Where we will be when this finally slows down? How many people are we going to lose to this? When will there be a solution? A cure? So many questions run through my mind. Who will it affect in my own life? Having pneumonia right now is very scary to me. I'm susceptible. That's scary.
Then I wonder...what is God trying to say? What lesson should we be learning here? Some people are probably angry with God. Wondering why He let this happen. Wondering where He is.
Y'all.
He's here.
I tend to not question the sovereignty of God. He is the creator of the universe. He created our unique and complex bodies. He created everything around us, but evil does not come from God. Evil comes from us. This is a hard time. It's very uncertain and we are traveling in uncharted waters. But HE is the master of the sea. He can guide us through this. He can help us through this. But we have to seek Him. He is the only one who can help. You can see with your own eyes that our government is not our savior here. The medical teams and scientists and researchers are doing AMAZING jobs, but it's not on their shoulders to save us.
GOD CAN SAVE US.
I believe that. A song came on in my car tonight as I drove home and I weeped. I weeped for our planet. For the loved ones lost. For the stress upon every person. For the nurses and doctors coming home completely exhausted and drained of hope. I weeped because it feels like there's not a reason to sing. A reason to be happy. A reason to have hope. But we do have hope.
HE IS OUR HOPE.
I know some of you will read this and roll your eyes and that's okay. But you should all know that I love you dearly and I care for you. And I do hope we make it through these perilous times soon. That we can get back out in the sun and breathe. That we can walk through a restaurant or store without fear. That we can get back to our lives.
But in the meantime, let's try to find what it is that God is teaching us. Maybe it's that we need to spend more time with our families. To value our people. Maybe we need to confess turning away from Him. Maybe we need to learn to be still. Be still and know. He is God. He is good. He is love. And HE DOES LOVE US. I believe that with my whole heart.
Pray, my friends. Pray during these hard times. Pray for guidance and wisdom.
Love, my friends. Love your people. Love people. Love above all else.
Hope, my friends. Hope for solutions. Hope for cures. Hope for humanity.
We're going to be okay. We are.
Don't give up. Don't give in.
I love you.
XOXO
Mandy
P.S. Here's a bit of me singing All Sons & Daughters' Reason to Sing