Dear Faith Family,
I pray that you are well in body, mind, and soul as you read this note. I have been praying for each of you even more and with greater desperation than usual these last few weeks. I guess that is one blessing amid the uncertainties of this moment; it compels us to pray like we need it.
One of the things I have begun praying for you as we prepare for at least another month of distancing is that you would press through the mourning of what is lost and into the resolve needed to live well.
I do not mean that you should not mourn, though I would encourage you not to moan. There is real loss in all of this. What I am praying for you and us, however, is that we would not remain in mourning, withdrawn into our feelings of loss and fear, but would accept the reality of this moment and embrace God's gift to us.
Perhaps the apostle Paul's dearest companion, Timothy, was a man whose faith Paul knew to be sincere and grounded. Nevertheless, Timothy found himself with difficulty living up to his faith. And so, Paul writes him saying,
"For this reason, I [Paul] remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you...for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and sound mind."
(2 Timothy 1:6-7)
It is normal to grieve and worry, and it is human to complain and fret, but we have something in us, given us, that allows us to continue through the trial, ready for whatever is needed of us. My prayer for you, for us, and myself is that we would "fan into flame," not "hide under a basket," this God gift, a spirit with the power to persevere and overcome, able to love as we have been loved, and do so with steadiness often absent in times like this.
The headmaster of our twin's school emailed the parents a trending quote on social media, though I wouldn't know (ha!). The exchange is between two of the primary characters of Tolkien's Lord of The Rings, and is certainly appropriate to our prayer. Even if you haven't read the books, you'll recognize the line from the first movie.
'I wish it need not have happened in my time,' said Frodo. 'So do I,' said Gandalf, 'and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.'
None of us are glad to be in the time we are in right now, but that is not for us to decide. It has been decided for us (Acts 17:26). What we are able and free to determine is how we will live during our allotted day, in a spirit of fear or radiating with "the good deposit entrusted to you."