May 2020: The Good News of Jesus In the Midst of a Pandemic

the good news of jesus IN THE MIDST OF A PANDEMIC

BY ANGELIC MAGAZINE

the good news of jesus IN THE MIDST OF A PANDEMIC

BY ANGELIC MAGAZINE

TRUSTING JESUS OVER GOVT'S B Y J E S S E A N A Y A

I sit and watch the news almost daily. Some days I need a break, a mental relief from the bad news, but mostly – my curiosity gets the best of me and I begin to tune in again.

The death count grows by the day. The headlines don't stop.

Republican. Democrat. Protester. Liberal. Financial hardship. Fear. Anxiety. Uncertainty. Outbreak. Get back to work. America.

Elected officials are making decisions that are of life and death – for me, for you, for our loved ones and for our futures. And for the first time in my life I feel helpless and confined within the walls of our government. My voice feels silent in nudging them for what I think we should do in the coming days and weeks, and months.

So, I talk to God about it and He listens. He asks me if I trust Him? I pause and ponder the question.

Inwardly, I know I doubt if He's in control because my eyes tell me it is Trump, governors, potential vaccines, Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx setting the tone for my life and yours – and in the moments of my pausing and pondering, I realize I need to trust God by my faith and not by my sight of man.

If Jesus asked you to get out of the boat and come to Him when everything around you doesn't make sense and there's not an explanation or answer for what's taking place, would you trust His voice or focus on all the suffocating noise that is surrounding you?

Our human nature senses what's taking place around us, and our faith senses Jesus around us.

I picture myself standing in the boat as the waves are

" I F J ES U S A S K ED Y O U TO G ET O U T O F TH E B O AT A N D C O M E TO H I M WH EN EV ERY TH I N G A R O U N D Y O U D O ES N ' T M A K E S EN S E A N D TH ER E' S N O T A N EX P LA N ATI O N O R A N S WER F O R WH AT' S TA K I N G P LA C E, WO U LD Y O U TR U S T H I S V O I C E O R F O C U S O N A LL TH E S U F F O C ATI N G N O I S E TH AT I S S U R R O U N D I N G Y O U ? " slushing all around me. I feel my fear arise knowing that what I see tells me to be doubtful and discouraged – but out on the water beyond what I see, is Jesus. “Come to me,” he says.

He's asking you to come to Him too.

You may be in favor of re­opening our country or you may be opposed to it. I have no desire to encourage you one way or the other, but I do desire to encourage you to trust God with how our coming days and months develop.

As my voice feels silent in decisions of the government, my voice will never be silenced in praying and surrendering my will to my God. You are not silent. We are not silent. God's will is greater than man's desires.

The disciple Peter began to walk on water to Jesus and it is only when he took his eyes off of Jesus that what he saw and heard distracted him, and it was then that he sank into the water.

In the midst of a pandemic, the decisions of man are not greater than Jesus' plan. Let's get out of the boat and walk boldly by faith to Jesus surrendering our willl to Him and trusting Him. He is our comforter. Our peace. Our hope.

Our provider, protector and our shield. Don't blink.

B Y B R A N D O N L Y O N S

PAGAN IN A

“I’ve been struggling with my anger and grieving all the things that are lost. But man, (them) becoming a Christian really puts thing into perspective. I’m such a sinner.”

For the last weeks, what’s been coming out of me has been my hurt. My upper middle class, western world has been rocked by a pandemic that’s killing many. No more gym. No more sports. No more playing sports. No more church. No more work. MORE time with my kids. I love them, but God help me.

As I look over that list, I’m disappointed. Disappointed in how petty it all sounds. How small my world is and how fragile the places I find my joy. Even worse, they’re places I find my identity. Who am I if not a soccer player?

What to do I do if I can’t hug all my friends at church?

Share my faith with people at my gym? Grow my business?

The number of times I’ve thought, “what’s the point?” is alarming. Like a smoke detector when I’ve overcooked the bacon. Instead of looking at my burnt bacon or addressing my cooking, I blame the smoke detector, take it down, unplug it and remove the battery. Blame the effect, not the cause. The problem isn’t in me, it’s the shelter­in­place.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Fire.

The other day, my phone starting buzzing. Emoji crying faces. My first thought, who died? I got the same message from other people. No clue what was happening. Turns out, someone made a decision to trust Jesus as their Lord.

Their family members were messaging me to say thank you.

A few weeks prior, I had a conversation with this member of their family. I’ve known them for years, but

this conversation was different. The fear and hurt and anger were no longer present. They were softened. The insecurity was unmasked, and they were open in a way I hadn’t seen prior.

This person said they had been thinking about God and picked up their Bible for the first time in a long time. A text convo ensued. Them, sure that their sudden need for God wasn’t what God wanted. Why would God want them only when they need Him? Why would God take them only when they came crawling to Him? God didn’t want their weakness or failure? Right?

I shared the best news of all, God’s free gift comes only at the acceptance of our brokenness. Hopelessly and relentlessly pursuing our own destruction, bent toward our own demise. Yet, while we mocked Jesus’ sacrifice and ridiculed him on the cross, he died for us. The scope of his sacrifice was infinitely greater than the size of our debt.

Still, before we ever knew him or loved him, he paid for our sins and the more of our sins we bring to him, the greater the forgiveness. And only in our submission, and the realization that we could not earn salvation, can we find true freedom in him.

I prayed with them, encouraged them to read the Gospel of John. I told them to ask God if He is real before each reading. Most importantly, make a decision. Who is Jesus?

That’s the only question that will matter in the end.

That was it. Nothing. I didn’t goad or poke. I just prayed.

Their spouse prayed. Their family had been praying for years. Then yesterday, a family in tears. A life changed.

Heaven erupting in song. Eternally secure.

How odd, the pagan came to find God’s goodness in a

A PANDEMIC pandemic. They’re experiencing the goodness of God, and I am struggling with, how much longer will I be inconvenienced? I may not like this season, but God is still at work. My plans are all thrown off, but God’s are still on track. In this moment. In this season. God will not relent.

He will not be restrained. He is not slow. He is not delayed. He moves forward. His kingdom will be established. His plan will be fulfilled.

Here is my final text to their family member on that day­

“I don’t enjoy it and I feel my anger and resentment, but I pray against it and ask God to change my heart.”

God doesn’t need me to like it, he just wants me to submit. Submit my anger. Submit my frustration. Submit my fears, insecurities, outrage. Submit it all. Bring it to him. Offer it. Offer him my emotion and all my fears and vitriol. Sacrifice it. Put it on his alter. Lay it down. Leave it there. When it crawls off the alter, put it back up.

I want to step forward into the good work He is already doing. I wanted to be used. I want to be useful. Maybe you don’t have to have it all together in this season. He wants to use all it. The hurt and confusion, he wants to use it. All the weakness, he wants to use that too. For where we are weak, He is strong, and it is His power that is made perfect in our weakness. God’s still at work in this season, and that’s the best news of all. Don’t let your feelings make you miss it. You don’t have to love this season to be useful in this season. You just need to offer it to him.

"I SHARED THE B E S T N E W S O F A L L , GOD’S FREE GIFT C O M E S O N LY AT T H E A C C E P TA N C E O F OUR BROKENNESS. H O P E L E S S LY A N D R E L E N T L E S S LY PURSUING OUR OWN DESTRUCTION, B E N T T O WA R D O U R O W N D E M I S E . Y E T, WHILE WE MOCKED J E S U S ’ S A C R I F I C E AND RIDICULED HIM ON THE CROSS, HE DIED FOR US. THE SCOPE OF HIS S A C R I F I C E WA S I N F I N I T E LY G R E AT E R T H A N T H E S I Z E O F O U R D E B T. "

TRANSPARENCY The front seat that distractions once sat in is now occupied by a new silence. This season has redirected us to focus our attention toward our homes, and toward our families. The instantaneous culture and fast­paced lifestyles that we are used to are at a stand still and we are face to face with our own thoughts, our own emotions; our own realizations about our lives and the way that we live them.

I believe that beneath the surface God is using this time to do a powerful work of realigning in our hearts and in our lives. Think about it: when have we had this much time to grow in communication and quality time with our families, in creative ways to show love to our friends, and in conversation with God. We are being prepared and equipped to come out of this season with the tools to love harder, and to move forward as refined versions of ourselves. Though through my own experience, I’ve come to find that two antagonists in this season had been perfectionism and unhealthy self­expectation. Normal life at a pause had me constantly pointing fingers at myself and believing the lies that I wasn’t doing enough to the point of mental exhaustion. The lie of perfectionism tries to tell you that you’re not doing enough, and that you should compare what you’re doing to what others are doing.

Am I saying that you shouldn’t use this time to set goals and try new things? Absolutely not. In fact, if you have the availability to, I think it’s a great time to do so. What I am saying is that it’s important to extend grace to ourselves. It’s important for us to ask

God in our day­to­day (even during a pandemic) what kind of day He has set before us, to ask Him to stand in the gap and be strong where we are weak.

We need to ask the Lord where He’s calling us to grow. Some of us are going to be called to grow in the area of starting a new side job. Some of us are going to be called to grow in prioritizing our family and resting from our typical work that we dive into; it’s going to look different and specific to each individual, which is why it is so vital that we listen to the voice of the Lord for guidance.

We are being stretched in various ways, and only God, the One who created each and every one of us, knows best in what areas we need to be stretched. It’s easy in this process for us to count our faults and feel like we’re not succeeding, because we are venturing into new territory. Stretching, pruning, and growing is simply uncomfortable and feels unnatural; however, when we make the choice to be real and honest with God about our weaknesses, He will come to stand in the gap. In this time of uncertainty He is the only sure thing.

When we are tired from keeping the kids occupied, He is our source of rest and grace. When we are overwhelmed from trying to figure out how the business is going to survive, He is our peace and confidence; but we must first make the choice to be vulnerable, to be honest about our weakness and bring it to the feet of Jesus so that He can carry the load for us. He died so that we would not only have life but life abundantly; so that we would be able to

Y AND GRACE IN THE QUIET PLACE

B Y K Y L I A D E L R E M E D I O

receive strength from Him where our humanity falls short. It is the nature of the Father’s love and kindness; He wants to be with us and fight for us. He doesn’t simply oversee our lives; His desire is to join in and partner with us on the journey.

Whether you are newly being introduced to who God is, or you’ve walked with Him for some time, the good news of His nearness is always true. God isn’t holding tally marks against us, so why should we keep record of our shortcomings? Why should we strive towards perfection in our own strength, when we can operate through peace day by day, looking at our shortcomings as an opportunity to bring our humanity to the Father and be radically changed through His one of a kind love. Let’s take advantage of our intimate moments with God in the quiet place and edify ourselves, building ourselves up to come out of this as better people; not because we did everything perfectly, but because we came to know God better, and in turn became more like Him. It is by grace that we have been saved in the first place, therefore it is by grace that He will carry us through this.

" I B E L I E V E T H AT B E N E AT H T H E S U R FA C E G O D I S U S I N G T H I S T I M E TO D O A POWERFUL WORK OF REALIGNING IN OUR H E A RT S A N D I N O U R L I V E S .

T H I N K A B O U T I T: W H E N H AV E W E H A D T H I S M U C H TIME TO GROW IN C O M M U N I C AT I O N A N D QUALITY TIME WITH OUR F A M I L I E S , I N C R E AT I V E WA Y S T O S H O W L O V E T O O U R F R I E N D S , A N D I N C O N V E R S AT I O N W I T H G O D .

W E A R E B E I N G P R E PA R E D AND EQUIPPED TO COME OUT OF THIS SEASON WITH THE TOOLS TO LOVE H A R D E R , A N D TO M O V E F O R WA R D A S R E F I N E D V E R S I O N S O F O U R S E LV E S . "

THE GOODNESS OF GOD IN THE MI B Y D A N I E L L E M O R G A N

Before the chaos of Coronavirus really took off, I wrote an article about celebrating ­ even the small things ­ and how important it really is to our human existence; how the very act of celebrating opens the doors to the very goodness of God. Oddly enough, I blamed our lack of celebrating on a variety of things, including our inherently busy schedules that some of us were so attached to like a heavy badge of honor we’d wear around our necks.

The funny thing is, it seemed as if our schedules were choking us. They were everything. Our busyness and need to achieve, become, or do something all the time was literally sucking the life out of our bones. I had been feeling the impact of this in my own life for a long time so I went on this pursuit of rest a couple of years back. And not just rest in the traditional sense, but rest for my soul… the kind of rest that allowed me to get real with my feelings, to admit what I was afraid of, and to realize that I didn’t have it all figured out. Through it all, my hope was to finally ­ hopefully ­ come to a point where I could release it all at the feet of Jesus and claim the peace that only He can offer.

I would never have imagined that our collective routines would literally get ripped out from under us. That everything we knew about living would change and everyone would return to a more simple way. And what I mean by simple is stripped back… less. I realize there is nothing simple about what’s happening all around in the world right now. There’s nothing about “shelter in place” that evokes feelings of settling in, kicking back, and relaxing with a good book. Instead, many of us are facing some of the hardest things we’ve ever experienced. Some are navigating unexpected job loss or what it means to work from home and facilitate your own child’s education.

Perhaps you find yourself in a position where the togetherness you’re experiencing with your family is more than you actually want and makes you desperate to escape like never before.

Each of us is created uniquely ­ with a set of our own unique emotions, experiences, and personalities and we’re facing different circumstances that are affecting us in a variety of ways. Some of it good, some of it bad, but none of it easy ­ none of it simple.

I think back to how it was before ­ before all this chaos ensued; before the grocery store required days of mental preparation and enormous amounts of hand sanitizer; before the physically invasive overlapping of our professional and personal lives became our new normal; before our children passed the honeymoon stages of school closures and entered into different stages of grief as they faced the reality of not finishing out the school year with their teachers, their friends, their second family.

Before all of that, there was still chaos. Maybe not on a global proportion in the way we perceive it today, but each of us in some way or another was walking through something difficult ­ trying to navigate the tension of life while striving to honor a God who loves us deeply. The truth is, the uncertainty of the future, lack of control we are currently sitting with, and desire to overcome the hardships at hand was our honest reality before the Coronavirus outbreak. The new circumstances of the world we live in today don’t change the fact that we are not in control.

The good news is, God has not changed either. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. This pandemic was not a surprise to the God of the Universe ­ it was to

IDST OF PANDEMIC us, but it’s not to Him. And just as He holds the stars in place, He holds our futures in His hands. God’s promises still stand ­ regardless of what’s happening all around us.

No matter what is happening in the world today or whatever hurdle you are facing in your own life, God is still good and I believe His goodness is right here and now ­ it’s ours for the taking, we just have to open our eyes and shift our focus.

Galations 5:22­23 tells us “...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self­control. Against such things there is no law.”

When I went on my own quest for soul rest a couple of years back, one of the things God whispered on my heart was this idea that His very essence is full of goodness, and if that’s true, then His goodness is mine for the taking. It doesn’t matter what my situation is. It doesn’t matter if the world feels like it’s falling apart, God’s goodness is available… I just have to stop and notice it ­ take hold of it.

At the time I was walking through a season of heightened stress. I was in a job that I loved, but it was weighing heavily on me. There was an intense pressure to perform that left me feeling like I was always missing the mark, coming up short no matter how hard I tried. There just weren’t enough hours in the day so I burned the flame on both ends until it went out. Every day that was my life and the anxiety that followed was more than I wanted to manage. I hated what the stress was doing to me physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I hated that, even when I wasn't working, I was working and I never felt like I could just be with my family, or just... be.

I decided that I had to learn how to create my own

" N O M ATTER WH AT I S H A P P EN I N G I N TH E WO R LD TO D AY O R WH ATEV ER H U R D LE Y O U A R E FA C I N G I N Y O U R O WN LI F E, G O D I S S TI LL G O O D " boundaries ­ even if it meant saying no to things I wanted to do. Even if it meant admitting that I wasn’t a machine, but a human being that needed rest, a slower pace, and a moment to breathe. It was during this time that I learned about God’s goodness and that He so wanted it for me ­ even amidst the stress I was navigating.

I remember one day distinctly back in 2018. It was my son’s birthday. I was feeling pressure from some fires I was trying to put out at work. I had brought my daughter to a local coffee shop to pick up cupcakes. They make them fresh every day ­ they’re so good they’ve even won local and national competitions. My son has a particular favorite ­ lemon. I was hoping to grab a couple to bring home for him after work. This cozy little shop has a large outdoor patio that connects to another local restaurant. In between, they share a large, grassy field, and one area of the field in particular has a steep hill. It’s a place where little ones like to run and play, so it wasn’t a surprise when my daughter (who was 5 at the time) asked if she could play for a little while. I agreed, walked her to the grassy area with our cupcakes and drinks in hand, and plopped down on the sidewalk at the edge of the greenbelt to watch her run and play.

I remember settling in, my mind spinning like a hamster wheel of the task­list and frustrations I had going on back at the office. I remember thinking about how tired I was of feeling that way. The entire time I was sitting there thinking about the stress, my daughter was right in front of me laughing and giggling, dancing and doing cartwheels like she always did. I immediately stopped thinking about work and just focused on her for that sweet, simple moment. And when I did, that’s when it hit

(CONTINUED) this very moment is the goodness of God displayed right in front of me. It has always been there… just waiting to be noticed. The more I engaged with her in that moment, the more I felt like the face of God was smiling down upon me, and the more I was able to release the anxiety swelling up inside.

I spent days thinking about that simple, profound moment, and the more I considered it, the more I started to wonder how many times I had missed out on His goodness because I was distracted by something else I thought was more important at the time. How many times had I been focusing on the wrong thing?

I started to realize that God is good ­ it’s part of His character, and our characters don’t change regardless of what’s going on in and around us. My journey toward soul rest soon became one of discovering the goodness of God in every moment of my life. I knew He had good for me, I just needed to have eyes to see it… I needed to start looking for it.

Maybe this season of social distancing has been hard for you. Maybe “hard” is an understatement. Maybe you’ve struggled to pay your bills because you lost your job. Maybe your job is next to impossible to do from home, or you and your spouse are working on top of each other and things have been strenuous on your relationship.

Maybe you're watching your kids struggle, or thrive (or both) while schooling at home, but it’s all you can do to count down the hours and minutes until bedtime because it’s been impossible to have a moment to yourself. Maybe you're missing your friends, your family, or just frequenting your local coffee shop. Whatever it is… wherever you are, you are not alone because each of us is grieving for what once was.

But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t goodness to be found and experienced right here and now. I believe God wants to lavish his beautiful goodness on you in intimate and special ways during this season and the many weary ones to come. Maybe it’s not what you expected or had hoped for, but I’ve often found that God’s plans are always better than the ones I’ve mapped out for myself.

Today, rest in the truth that in your quiet space of the world, God is near. He hears you, He loves you, and He has so much good for you.

GOOD NEWS B Y A S H L E Y H A U B E N S C H I L D

G O D I S G O O D TO D AY

Have you ever felt pain so heavy, you thought you’d crumble underneath its weight? Hurt that rips through you so violently, you don’t know how you’ll ever recover?

Will the sun ever rise again? Will the darkness ever lift? Will the day ever come where you can once again exist without feeling broken?

I experienced a season like that once. Where pain, trauma, and loss seemed to permeate every aspect of my life. It was my new normal.

Where was God in all of this? If He is truly God and truly good, how could He allow me to walk through this valley? I think that’s the hardest part about our faith; trying to understand God’s goodness and sovereignty even in the midst of difficult, sometimes heartbreaking circumstances.

I went for a drive the other day, and my heart broke over and over. There are a lot of small businesses in the community we live in, and as we drove I was struck by how many had taken the time to purchase or make signs to hang up that said things like, “Take Out Available” and “Still Open for To Go Orders”.

My heart broke for all the small business owners whose parking lots were empty. People who had poured their savings into their companies, and who are watching those businesses slowly die. They had shelled out money for professional signs to let people know they were still open, hoping that some would give them their business.

My heart broke again for a relative who is collecting unemployment for the first time. A professional in their field, they never envisioned relying on the government for financial help.

But here they are, unsure if their employer will ever be able to reopen their business.

I have two friends who were in the process of becoming teachers and were doing student teaching. Now both are unemployed, unsure of what their futures will hold.

And then there’s death itself. All the countless deaths we read about in the news. Loved ones dying alone.

Funerals being impossible. Nursing homes being overrun with this pandemic. Loss after loss, without the ability to say goodbye.

There’s an awful lot of heartbreak in the world today. Many of us have never experienced such tangible fear and heartbreak as we have in this season. And I have been struck with the realization that God is still God, no matter our circumstances.

You’ve heard the phrase, “God is good at being good, and He’s good at being God,”.

Well it rang true a thousand years ago, a hundred years ago, and it is still true today.

God was good when Rome occupied Israel and Christians were persecuted and murdered en mass.

God was good when eleven of his twelve disciples became martyrs for their faith.

God was good during the Spanish flu.

God was good during the Great Depression.

God was good during the Holocaust.

God was good during 9/11.

God is good today.

If there’s one thing that God has taught me through my suffering, it is that no matter what, He is good. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose,” Romans 8:28.

He is good and He wants good things for us. But more than that, what is the purpose of becoming a Christian and placing our faith in Jesus. Is it to have a good life?

No. Absolutely not.

God never promises freedom from pain and suffering. If you look at the original disciples, Jesus’s best friends, they all endured difficult lives on earth.

They were imprisoned, beaten, homeless, and all but one died tragic, horrible deaths. So what does that mean for us? It means as believers in Jesus, we should not expect easy, pain­free lives.

We are human. And humans are in bondage to sin. Therefore, this life on earth will hold much pain and suffering, for it is enslaved to sin and the consequences of sin.

But despite our bondage to this difficult and pain­filled life, God is so good.

He is here with us in our fears. He is a solid rock in the midst of uncertainty.

That valley I wrote about earlier, was without a doubt the most difficult season of my life to date.

I still deal with pain from that season, even now. But for whatever reason God allowed me to walk through it, I have seen the pruning He has done in me because of it. I see the fruit that has come from it. And I know He was with me, every step of the way.

I know this season of pandemic is scary and painful for so many. But let us take heart. God is bigger than our circumstances. He’s working on our behalf.

Maybe you don’t know what’s going to happen to your job, but God does.

You don’t know how you’re going to pay rent, but God does.

You don’t know if you or your loved ones will come out unscathed, but God knows.

" H E I S H E R E W I T H U S I N O U R F E A R S . H E I S A S O L I D R O C K I N T H E M I D S T O F U N C E R T A I N T Y. "

This pandemic didn’t surprise God. It didn’t catch Him off guard.

He has us in the palm of His hand. Let us put our faith in Him. “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you,” 1 Peter 5:7.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God,” Philippians 4:6­7.

Let us run to God in this season of uncertainty, knowing He wants to know about our fears and hurts. Let us cry out to Him and let Him carry this burden for us. I trust Him with my future, even if it holds hardship, because at the end of it all, God is good.

He is Jehovah Rapha, the Lord that Heals.

He is Jehovah Shammah, the Lord is There.

He is Jehovah Mekoddishkem, the Lord Who Sanctifies You. He is Jehovah Jireh, the Lord Will Provide.

He is El Roi, He sees you.

Jehovah Ro’I, He is Your Shepherd.

He is Abba, our Father.

“The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry, “Abba, Father,” Romans 8:15.

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are­yet He did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need,” Hebrews 4:15­16.

A