FAITH CONNECTION – FARMERSVILLE UMC
Ministry Updates for Friday, July 24th, 2020
Scripture:
Ecclesiastes 2:1 – I said to myself, “Come now, I will make a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But again, this also was vanity.
Reflection – This Too Shall Pass
I grew up watching Ohio State Football under Woody Hayes. They ran the ball, and then they ran it more. That style carried on after him. In the last few years, quarterbacks J.T. Barrett and Dwayne Haskins broke Big Ten Touchdown passing records. But this is a run-based program! Ahh, this too shall pass. (See what I did there?)
A theme to the book of Ecclesiastes (also called ‘The Preacher’), is this: The highs and the lows of life will pass. It seems like it would be good if we could hold onto the highs, and let go of the lows, but as the writer says, (Eccl 3:5) ‘there is a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing’.
One of my seminary professors opined, ‘The Preacher’ has looked deep into the abyss, and found life wanting. I think it was too dark and too early (by a few centuries) for the writer to see the image of Jesus at the bottom of that hole. But the darkest deepest abysses of sin and death were overcome with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The darkest abyss, the tomb of death, could not hold him.
I feel like we are looking into the deep dark abyss of COVID-19. It was supposed to peak at the end of April or the beginning of May. Things were supposed to be ‘back to normal’ by now. We were supposed to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But we are still on the sideline, without a running game or a passing game.
It is an image I have used before, but worth repeating. If I want to drive from Ohio to California and travel at night, there is not enough power in my battery to light the entire country. But fortunately, there is enough for me to see a few hundred feet in front of me, and that is enough; a few hundred feet at a time; one day at a time.
The resurrection of Jesus didn’t just happen, it happens. So this dark time too shall pass. Thank you, God.
Prayer
God of love, God of light, God of an ever-changing world, you are God, and we are your people. Though you have gifted us greatly and in many ways, there are times our ability to manage our own future shrinks to almost nothing. In these time, help us trust in you. Help us take life one day at a time, always believing in the resurrection. Amen.