We have been through some trying times in the last weeks. No doubt about it, it has been very tough. The thing is, we are a tough people and can handle adversity, because we have a God who is tougher still.
God didn’t let the Hebrew children down when they were in captivity in Egypt. God didn’t let David down when he faced down Goliath. God didn’t let Job down, even when his wife and friends told him to curse God and die. God didn’t let Daniel down in the lion’s den. God didn’t let Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego down in the fiery furnace. Jesus didn’t let the woman caught in adultery down, or the lame man at the pool of Bethesda, or even the disciples when they thought all was lost. In every circumstance, God has showed up and showed out. God has been helping humankind to persevere since the beginning. Why would we think God would let us down now. God is good, all the time, and all the time, God is good. We learned that phrase from our African-American sisters and brothers, who have certainly weathered more than their share of adversity.
We praise God when we’re up and when we’re down, because God is with us through it all. I told you in the sermon this last week about a young college student who had been hospitalized for the Coronavirus. He had an outstanding bill of over $16,000. Do you know, JPS hospital in Ft. Worth contacted him this week to tell him his bill had been taken care of!
God is good. Because God is good, we too are encouraged to remember God is with us, and there is nothing that can happen to us, that we and God cannot handle.The Apostle Paul, who was no stranger to adversity writes in Romans 8:35, 37-39..“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress, or persecution or famine, or nakedness or peril or sword? No! In all things we are more than conquerors through through the One who loved us. We are sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
So friends, take heart and continue to keep the faith. This time we’re in is tough, but not tougher or more powerful than the exceedingly good God we serve. To quote an old hymn, “We’ve come this far by faith, leaning on the Lord, trusting in God’s holy word, God’s never failed us yet. Oh, oh, oh, can’t turn around, we’ve come this far by faith.”
Blessings and Peace,
Pastor Tom