Philippians 4:19 (NIV)
19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
I have lost count of the number of days and weeks that we have now been under “Shelter In Place” orders. Every day pretty much feels the same. not much way to distinguish from one day to the next because of the lack of schedule.
As I talk with people through social media and text messages I am amazed at how positive most people are. As a matter of fact, most of the time when I call or message to check on someone they tell me how blessed they are and they ask how they can help me, the pastor. It is at that moment that I realize my work for God has not been in vain, It is then I realize that the people who aren’t falling apart are those who have spent time and energy building their relationship with Jesus these past many years. That is a pastor’s greatest hope, that his people will grow and become mature.
So, the conversations are more about what we are thankful for and not at all about what we have lost because so far, no one has lost anything that can’t be replaced. Wow…
None of us have lost anyone to death. None of us of course have lost our own lives. We are blessed and taken care of. This doesn’t mean that as Christians we won’t suffer, we will. This doesn’t mean that we will never lose anyone we love to death, we will. What it means is when you have Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, you have everything you need.
I am thankful that we have a roof over our heads, food on the table, and clothes on our back. I am thankful that we have electricity, water, and we even still have internet and cable. To be honest, some of these things aren’t necessary, we are blessed to still have them. We have vehicles to go when we need to and that is very little these days. I have been able to grocery shop for a couple of people, we are creating videos of bible studies to stay in connection with the church, and I have run a couple of errands for our oldest son to have work done on one of his vehicles in Winston Salem. It felt really strange to leave Carroll and Surry Counties after almost 6 weeks. One of the blessings is the fact we are saving all kinds of money since we aren’t buying gas. I think we have filled up 3 times in 6 weeks and typically we will buy at least 2 tanks a week and more on average.
I have my family. My wife, our children, our grandchildren, and my mother who lives with us and we are all healthy and blessed. We have everything under the sun to be thankful for. We would never make light of those who are out of work and struggling to make ends meet. We are praying for the small and big businesses who are struggling. We are praying for the millions who every day are putting their lives on the line to keep all of us safe. We are daily and moment by moment thanking God for the blessings He has blessed us with.
Stop and count your blessings, it matters.
Ronnie