August of 2020 seems so long ago, but I’m revisiting a post from back then because it was such an uncertain time. As I face some new unknowns over the next month, I want to remember some things I learned during that first year or two of Covid. I remember spending more time outside and seeing truths about God through nature. I also remember how brave my friend, Suzanne, was. She continued to trust God in all the unknowns of that time as she worked with many sick patients in an assisted living center. Join me this week in looking back, in order to look forward…

(If you’d prefer to listen to the podcast version of this post, click below:)

My husband called to me from outside, “Get your shoes on and come out here!” I thought for sure yet another item on our property was to be found damaged. Lately, storms had washed up debris into our yard, torn up our gravel road, and blown work projects across our lawn. I sighed, rolled my eyes, begrudgingly put on my shoes, and hesitantly opened the door.

I was relieved to find that he was not excited over another problem, he was excited about God’s creation. He pointed at the grass and exclaimed, “Just look at what a small spider was able to do overnight!” I too was mesmerized by it and other clouds of spider webs scattered across the grass. Each soft, delicate pocket of web work was intricately woven and held tiny drops of dew.

I immediately thought of the recent morning that our rabbit gave birth to five tiny bunnies. After weeks of believing she had been successfully bred, we had decided in our hearts that maybe she wasn’t really pregnant. This was our first time breeding a rabbit, and we weren’t confident at being able to tell. The night before it had been day 30 out of the usual 31 days of pregnancy. There were no signs that she’d be giving birth any time in the next twenty-four hours. There was no working away on a nest made of mama’s fur. Just a happy rabbit in her cage. We went to bed and woke in the morning to a nesting box filled with five soft, squirming bodies and a beautiful blanket of fur. Overnight, mama rabbit had given birth to the babies, cleaned them, and created a blanket of softness to cover them.

What God’s creation can do overnight! It’s mysterious and moves me to pause in awe.

As I consider the mysteries of the natural activities of God’s creation, I wondered about my own life. I thought of the things that seem normal or even mundane to me like washing the dishes, making dinner, teaching my children. I wondered also about the things that are frustrating and worrisome. These thoughts with the things I had witnessed and thought of that morning brought me to ask this question:

“Do I live life like I believe that it is under the Lordship of Christ no matter how mundane, sorrowful, or frustrating it is?”

The same God who created a spider to make intricate webs on blades of grass and rabbit mama’s who give birth, clean, and make blankets of warmth for their babies overnight, is the same God who made us and cares for us.

“If God is the Creator of the entire universe, then it must follow that He is the Lord of the whole universe. No part of the world is outside of His lordship. That means that no part of my life must be outside of His lordship.“

R. C. Sproul

This morning I talked to a friend who works in an assisted living center. They have ninety-nine out of one hundred and ten patients who have tested positive with COVID-19. She’s trusting that she is in God’s hands and care, yet she had a moment in the middle of the night when she was stricken with panic. She had lost sleep, yet kept to our schedule of talking and praying at 6:00 AM. In her usual way, she stated her trust in God’s care. She is confident that whatever comes her way is under the Lordship of Christ.

She also knows this truth is of utmost importance and impacts her daily life:

“Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds, we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” -Isaiah 53:4-6 (ESV)

And this:

“So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.’” -Isaiah 28:16 (NIV)

He was stricken with pain so that in relying on him we would never have to be stricken with panic. We know what we’ve been saved from, we know who saved us, and we know who is saving us.

“Christianity is not a cafeteria line where you say, ‘I’ll have a little salvation, but no Lordship right now.'”

Adrian Rogers

In the mundane and also the panic-stricken moments of life, my friend knows who is Lord over her life. She knows the Lord has saved her and is saving her. If He does not rescue her from COVID-19, He will rescue her from this world and bring her into the next.

My friend’s trust and faith remind me of the old hymn, “I Know Whom I Have Believed” written by Daniel Whittle.

“But I know Whom I have believed,
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed
Unto Him against that day.”

What verses or songs are encouraging you to trust the Lord who is over all of life? When was the last time you considered God’s care and faithfulness in former distresses and everyday life?

Would you like to experience my weekly questions audibly? You can now do that through my new podcast, Asking is Loving! Would you please check it out, rate it, and subscribe? Thank you so much!

Are you signed up for my monthly e-mail, “Encouragements to Turn Toward Grace”? When you sign up, you will receive a free digital booklet I created called: Asking is Loving, Powerful Questions to Ask Yourself & Your Loved Ones. It’s full of great coaching questions divided into chapters focused on questions for yourself, your spouse, your children, and your friends. You’ll also receive a free scripture printable of Proverbs 4: 23 and a free printable of the Ten Daily Biblical Truths that I use regularly.

I’m linking up this week with these awesome bloggers: