Daily Devotions
As I write this, at the end of 2020, a close friend lies dying and my son is enduring COVID-19 in isolation at his university. Things like that have a way of concentrating the mind. What seemed so important a few months ago is minor, now. And like any frightened child, I run to my Savior—to Jesus—because He is the Rock that will never give way.
What will happen to my son, my friend? God only knows in the short term. But in the long term, He has told us: “If the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1). God also tells us through the words of Paul “that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into His presence” (2 Corinthians 4:14).
That is something that pandemics cannot touch. That is something that cancer, or death, or loss, or grief cannot touch. We will be raised from the dead some day, and God will bring us into Jesus’ presence. We will live with Him forever, and we will rejoice. We can trust in that promise. It is a promise from the Holy Spirit Himself.
This is what we hope for—that as God has included us in Jesus’ suffering and death by the faith He has given us, so He will also include us in Jesus’ resurrection and everlasting life. Yes, we worry and suffer now; but God’s love for us lasts forever, and He will have the final word.
THE PRAYER: Father, when I am afraid, help me to remember the hope we have in Jesus. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions:
1. What is worrying you right now?
2. How do you get through times of worry, fear, or grief?
3. Tell about a time when God got you through fear, grief, or pain.