David Wells said, “What someone thinks about the church tells us exactly what that person is thinking about Christianity.” What is the church? I offer the following definition: The church is the people of God, formed by the will of God, to bear the image of God.

How do you view the world? Is your view of the world informed by reality? What makes life worth living is finding out what life is all about. There has been much heartache during our current pandemic. Many lives have been lost as both a direct and indirect result of the coronavirus. One good that has come in my experience is to slow the pace, take a breath, and enjoy every moment.

My eyes have beheld beautiful things

The sun bouncing through a butterfly’s wing

The dance of the wind in the time of spring

My eyes have beheld beautiful things

Our current circumstances are filled with interruptions. Some interruptions have proved profitable. Other occasions have been less desirous. For example, some are unaffected by the cancellation of sports, but most, especially the teams, are sorely affected. Most children have enjoyed the news of school cancellations at the peak of the spring semester, but those graduating have been adversely affected. Many joyous occasions have been put on hold. This significant interruption we are experiencing is a reminder that our activities and schedules are all fragile in a fallen world.

I geared down as I faced the first hill. The wind met me the entire ride, even downhill, but on this section of roadway, the part I had dreaded the most throughout the whole trip, I experienced almost no wind. As I faced the last significant hill on the road, I heard the trees above me swaying in the breeze, but I, on the roadway, experienced none of it. Verbally, in between the huffing and puffing, I exclaimed, "Thank you, Lord! "

Psalm 46 gives us a glimpse into the dwelling place of God. We learn God is ever-present with his own and especially in times of need. This Psalms carries with it the often “already-not-yet” tension of Scripture. God is ever-present and one day the whole universe will be filled with the knowledge of him as the waters cover the sea. From Psalm 46 we both celebrate and long for God’s presence.

Psalm 44 ended with a cry for help. Rise up, come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love! The cry for help is not due to our sake, not because we are deserving in and of ourselves. He comes to our aide because of his steadfast love. We are hopeless unless he considers us from his own goodness. The cry for help is answered in Psalm 45 by a song. This time the song is a love song. 

Belonging to God doesn’t isolate the believer from suffering. Faith in God insulates our suffering with an unshakable hope. Our outward selves may be decaying and what decays the outside renews the inside (2 Cor 4:16).

Unless he acts, we are hopeless in a stormy sea. Unless he acts, our leprosy remains. Unless he acts, we remain dead in our graves. Thankfully, not only has he acted, he is acting, and he will continue to act – forever.

Wesley held the Bible before his parishioners and founded a movement called Methodism. A Methodism that strays from Scripture would not be recognized by Wesley, by my great-grandmother, and I am guessing not by many throughout the United Methodist Church today.

We all knew he struggled. We all were trying to reach him. We all thought we had more time. I vividly remember our last conversation. "Let's go to lunch next week. I have a Friday open." To which his last words to me were, "I'd love to go to lunch." Now, instead of lunch on Friday, I bury him.

Don’t be afraid to be who God has called you and is forming you to be. The joy and assurance we have as followers of Jesus is that we get to look in every direction of our lives and see purpose, to see meaning, to know that the circumstances of our lives are not haphazard or pointless, but even the hurtful can be used by God to conform us into the image of Jesus.