Wednesday, March 18, 2020.

We are all home more often now. It feels like bracing for a winter storm. Only the storm is different. We are not inconvenienced by weather or treacherous roads, or dangerous temperatures. The danger comes smaller than we can see. For most it is a terrible inconvenience, and for some a quiet threat of serious risk. And this is only the beginning of a weeks'-(or months’-)long storm.

The risks are global, and the governments of nations are involved and frantically trying to solve this crisis. The national news is saturated with the latest information. But our experience of this social distancing and school closures is a bit more local. We feel the need to shepherd our kids and not let them see us afraid. We are adjusting to new schedules, no schedules, preparing for illness, and whatever it is for which we may need a years’ supply oftoilet paper. For many of our most vulnerable, they are facing the terrible options of loneliness and shortage of necessities on the one hand or potentially life-threatening disease on the other. It is in the daily things that we feel the effects of this pandemic. We are thinking of our families, our hospitals, our church.

With the latest information constantly changing, we are living from day to day. Yet that is where God meets us. In each day. We are told these words in Psalm 68, verses 19-20: "Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Our God is a God of salvation and to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death." (Ps. 68:19-20 ESV)

Yes, he DAILY bears us up. And to him belong deliverances from death. Pray to him this evening, and trust him to bear you up throughout this strange time we are going through. He will bear you daily. Trust him to bear you up today.

Warmly yours,

Pastor Dan Wilson