Happy Spring! Happy Resurrection Day! And congratulations on making it through one of the weirdest, toughest years any of us have ever seen. We’ve made it to 2021, but the reverberations of the rest of 2020 are still with us.
As we kick off April 2021, we’re in an unusual place on a LOT of different fronts: the Great COVID Pandemic of 2020 seems to be receding like the bad weather, but neither is completely gone. A spring snowstorm or virus upsurge could be right around the corner, and the threat of either could loom for the rest of the month (at least). Vaccines are slowly being made available to everyone, but the threat of variants and distribution problems mean that we’re not out of the woods yet. And the rippling economic impact of this terrible year will be with us for a long time, too. Like Christmas bills, the costs of COVID will be with us long after the seasons have changed. The emotional and social impacts of our isolation will not evaporate, either: our children may show effects from this very difficult season, for instance. So, the worst is almost over, but we have to be ready for after-shocks.
I have two thoughts to stress:
People move on; God doesn’t. As the sentiments of “we’re all in this together” fade, there’s a possibility that social and economic pressures will ramp up: back bills will come due, forbearances and amnesties will run out, prices will rise. If your job was uncertain before the pandemic, it could be wiped out. That’s scary and can be overwhelming. But God was your Provider before winter/COVID/downturns, etc., and He remains your Source (Luke 12:22). Continue to trust in Him to provide for you and your family. Verbalize that you know “from whence cometh your help” (Ps. 121), even when you’re not feeling very confident. God is faithful, even when the world is in turmoil.
Make your needs known. God has put the solidarity in families for a reason, and you can ask your Unity family/friends/U-group to be praying with/for you as you come through a time of travail. During the pandemic, we have seen God bring supply and generosity from amazing, almost supernatural places – you never know where your next miracle is coming from! I can’t promise you a miracle, but I can assure you that “you have not because you ask not.” God is your source, and sometimes He uses people as His vehicles and angels. So, speak up!
As we transition into Spring and 2021 who-knows-what-else is to come. But the same God is keeping us, meeting our needs and caring for us. Don’t go through it alone, and don’t fail to call on Him and His people. He loves you and has provided for your needs.
-Elder Gary Abdullah