I tested positive for Covid again this morning. I first tested four days ago, and I am feeling so much better I was sure the virus had passed. But no… My wife tested positive earlier in the week. We are blessed: we have food, family nearby, friends, and funds. We have no fever.
Now I wonder what to do with this time, this somewhat isolated time. I asked a friend to pray with me, that maybe God is showing me something, or stripping something away, or maybe I’m learning to pray. Psalm 46 has shown up often this week, not the least with finding a new journal that I just unpacked.
Psalm 46 is such a powerful prayer:
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear
though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
(As I write this [Sept 2023] I think of the devastating earthquake in Morocco, with thousands dead and injured, and rescue workers struggling in their work, and these words expand and resonate. We can use this Psalm to pray for them as well.)
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her;
she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
Maybe because I’ve been trying to memorize Psalm 1 that I see a connection with it here. Without quoting extensively, the Psalmist says the person who meditates on the law of the Lord will be like a tree planted by a river of water, whose tree bears fruit in due season, and whose leaves do not wither. The images are of an evergreen tree, and of stability. There’s a contrast between someone who seeks advice and counsel from the ungodly and the scornful. (You can scroll down any comments sections in Facebook or Twitter or any other social media and see this at work.)
Such a person is unstable, like “chaff in the wind”, the Psalmist says. I know this all too well.
So we go back to the river, whose streams make glad the city of God. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved. And maybe I can latch on to that stability by meditating on the word of God. Maybe so.
The LORD of hosts is with us,
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah.
Come, behold the works of the LORD,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah.
I don’t understand the sovereignty of God. I don’t understand how the God who made all creation cares for me, but I believe it. And I believe the Resurrection of Jesus means that one day all will be well, in the words of Sam Baggins when he saw Gandalf toward the end of The Lord of the Rings, “everything bad is going to come untrue.” And maybe God is calling us to stop a little longer, to pray for the world, and to believe this truth.
Frank is an Inspire Missioner in Texas, USA. You can read more of Frank refections on his blog HERE.
