The thought I have had often the last few days is: ” I’ve never seen anything like this”. But it’s true. At the risk of sounding old “in all my born days….”. What are we to do in times like these? I was reading in Deuteronomy this morning and I read through God’s command to Israel:
“Imprint these words of mine on your hearts and minds, bind them as a sign on your hands, and let them be a symbol on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates,
Deuteronomy 11:18–20 CSB17
God wants us to remember what he has told us at all times and to pass this on to our children. Earlier he had given this same command and told them why:
“Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you don’t forget the things your eyes have seen and so that they don’t slip from your mind as long as you live.
Deuteronomy 4:9 CSB17
God wanted them to remember how they had come to the place they were. God had brought them out of Egypt. He had sustained them through 40 years in the desert. Their existence up to that point had depended totally on him.
Now as they were about to reenter “normal life” he wanted them to remember how things really work. How life works is that God cares for us. We are sustained by God, although in normal times we tend not to see it.
The trick, when life takes us the other direction – when we go from normal to times where we can’t see around the corner, is to understand things work the same way. God cares for us. He is still there. He has not lost his job. We are still his priority.
So let’s teach our children during this time about the great things that God has done for us. Let’s remind one another of all the ways God has brought us to where we are. Let’s allow this time to focus us on what will never be taken from us. Let us rejoice that we know the God who is there.