Thought for the weekend

Craig Cooney

It’s difficult to plan too far ahead as we emerge from the pandemic. Credit: Jeremy Poland

July 17 2021 11:00 AM

I read a report last week indicating that, due to the pandemic, 40% of employees are reconsidering their jobs and careers.

People are evidently longing for greater personal fulfilment, quality of life, meaning and purpose.

Many of the things that we took for granted 18 months ago, we are now questioning. This disruption will likely continue to be felt for many years to come.

It’s no different in the Church. Everything has changed. As a Church leader, I know that we cannot go back to pre-2020 ways of doing things. However, I’m also not exactly sure where we’re going in the coming days.

Right now, it feels like we’re in what is sometimes called a “liminal space” — an in-between time, a threshold, a significant moment of transition between the world that was and the world that will be.

In such times, it’s difficult to plan too far ahead. We don’t know what the next three to six months hold. Yet, we must move forward.

We cannot permit uncertainty, insecurity and fear cause us to become paralysed into passivity, or procrastination.

We must begin to plan for the future, always with the proviso, “If the Lord wills”.

In Joshua chapter 3, God’s people are exiting 40 years in the wilderness and are about to enter the Promised Land.

God tells Joshua: “... You have never been this way before” (v 4). Isn’t that how it feels right now? No one has experienced our present situation before. There is no roadmap. However, there is a Guide.

God tells Joshua: “As soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord — the Lord of all the Earth — set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.” (v 13).

In the Old Testament, the Ark represented God dwelling among His people. In other words, God was going before them into the unknown.

He would lead and guide them into the good future He had prepared for them. As long as they kept their focus on the Ark, they would cross over safely into this unchartered territory.

Similarly, as we emerge out of this pandemic, it is vital that we are led and directed by the Holy Spirit.

Our own ingenuity, wisdom, and past methods will no longer suffice. We are fully dependent on God. As Paul would later write: “Keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25).

Today, we have a choice. We can face the unknown future filled with anxiety and apprehension. Or we can look forward with faith and confidence, knowing that God is with us, God is for us and God will lead us if we are willing to submit our plans and surrender our agendas to Him.

So, yes, we are currently in the middle. But the middle is often where God does His greatest miracles.

Keep on moving.

Thought for the weekend

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