Person-2-Person - April, 2020

I’m writing this in the midst of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. I have to confess, my first response was profound gloom. I found myself wondering what the next step might be. I couldn’t see a way out and honestly I wasn’t sure there was any point in finding one. I despaired of ever finding a new “normal.”

Over time, I remembered that God’s people throughout history have been no strangers to hopelessness, to despair. When Abram and his wife, Sarai, had been waiting for who knows how long for God’s promised child, they finally surrendered to despair and Abram had relations with Sarai’s servant Hagar (Gen. 16:1-3). When Moses and the Israelites reached the Red Sea, a Pharaoh’s army approached, the people turned on Moses (Exod. 14:9-12). Time and again, they yearned for the times of slavery (Exod. 16:2-3; Num. 14:1-3).

In the familiar passage about “the valley of the shadow of death,” (Psa. 23:4a), the psalmist wrote about despair and hopelessness. But he also knew that God was present in his times of despair. When the dual nations of Judah and Israel were defeated by the Babylonians, and thousands of Jews were taken from their homeland, the people were in utter despair. Psalm 137 reflects this forlornness: “By the rivers of Babylon / we sit down and weep / when we remember Zion.” (vs. 1 New English Translation).

And by the time Christ was born, their country was made captive again, this time by the Roman Empire. Hopelessness was pervasive. Even their leaders yearned for the past and clung to their old ways, so much so that when first John the Baptist and then Christ arrived they rejected them.

After Christ was crucified, even though Peter and another disciple had seen the empty tomb (John 20:3-8), and Mary Magdalene had told them Jesus had been raised (vs. 18), “. . . the disciples had gathered together and locked the doors of the place because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders.” (vs.19b NET). Even after Jesus appeared to them and reassured them, they were still afraid. And they had good reason because the authorities, including a man named Saul, were determined to persecute and if necessary exterminate them (Acts 8:1-3).

In more recent times, God’s people were the victims of the Holocaust, in which ten million Jews and others were killed, and more were imprisoned and barely survived.

Christ himself was no stranger to persecution. Isaiah wrote of a man who “. . . was despised and rejected by people, / one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness;” (Isa. 53:3a NET). This is a man who sounds very much like Christ as Pilate had him flogged, tormented and crucified (John 19).

A few days after the “new normal” began, I was reading a daily devotional when I encountered Mark 9:24. A man had a son who had a “demon” that caused him to have seizures (Mark 9:14-29). Jesus’ disciples had been unable to cast out the “demon” (vs. 18). The man begged Jesus to help, “‘. . . if you are able to do anything,’” (vs. 22b NET). Jesus replied, “‘All things are possible for the one who believes.’” (vs. 23b NET). “Immediately the father of the boy cried out and said, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’” (vs. 24 NET). I saw my own unbelief reflected in the father’s plea. I knew I should trust in the lord but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

The resurrection is our sign that “All things are possible,” that “the valley of the shadow of death” is not the end, that the dead will live again (John 11:25). How we conduct ourselves as we face this current crisis—or any other—reveals our faith—or lack of it—in Christ and in the resurrection. Jesus told his disciples, “‘For I have given you an example—you should do just as I have done for you.’” (John 13:15 NET). May his conduct, his witness, his faith be mine and ours.*

Dear God, I believe—we believe. Help our unbelief!

“‘But if you are able to do anything, have compassion on us and help us.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘“If you are able?” All things are possible for the one who believes.’ Immediately the father of the boy cried out and said, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’” (Mark 9:22b-24 NET.)

*The original version of this Person-2-Person referred to the story of a priest who had sacrificed his respirator so that someone else could live. Unfortunately, the story wasn’t true and I’ve removed the reference. I apologize for the error. – David P.