"God, I remember you"

At times, over these past several weeks, I have woken up around 4.00 AM with troubled thoughts and anxieties – all stemming from the COVID-19 outbreak and the financial crisis developing.

In the normal course of everyday life, I can mull over problems, and turn that mulling into worrying.

But these moments of early morning wakefulness feel more like an involuntary fearfulness welling up. What are my fears?

That I will not be able to find food for my family members with special dietary needs (the shelves of our local grocery stores are more and more limited, and I’m not referring to toilet paper! Hah)  Or that our vulnerable family members could catch this virus. Or that the financial downturn will take away our savings. 

These thoughts can shake me out of an early morning sleep. But, then what?

I choose to remember how God has provided in my life over the past years. 

I try to follow the example of the psalmist in Psalm 63.6-7:

On my bed I remember you;
    I think of you through the watches of the night.
Because you are my help,
    I sing in the shadow of your wings.

So, I choose to remember how God was my help and covering in years past.

For instance: How God provided opportunities for me after college in Ohio, even though I had wasted a couple years in school in reckless living; How God provided a job for me when I moved to Virginia at the depths of the 1980 recession; How God provided work and support for us here in Jacksonville over these many years of mission and ministry.

I recall these times, specifically, one by one. And then I turn them into a prayer.  

Such as, “Lord, just as you provided for me in Ohio…in Virginia…in Jacksonville…so you can provide for me now. I will not allow myself to stay in an anxious place, but I thank you for being my provider, then and now. You chose me, and you love me. And I will rest on You.”

Or to quote the psalmist:  “On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.

There are many other scriptures that help us look to God for his grace and mercy, such as…

Psalm 143.4-6

So my spirit grows faint within me;
    my heart within me is dismayed.
I remember the days of long ago;
    I meditate on all your works
    and consider what your hands have done.
I spread out my hands to you;
    I thirst for you like a parched land.

Isaiah 46.9

“Remember the former things, those of long ago;
    I am God, and there is no other;
    I am God, and there is none like me.”

Why would I say that God cares about me, and that I can bring him my fears and needs? Because he made me his own, through Christ – I belong to him, and he will care for me – and he offers you the same opportunity today.

Please PM me or email me if you want to chat more about what this would mean for you. At such a time as this, we all can reach out to God afresh, for he made a way through Christ to know his love and his care.

Here’s my word of encouragement: recall who God is. And turn those thoughts into prayers and thanksgiving during this unprecedented time of uncertainty.

Today, spend some time choosing the Scriptures that help you turn to the Lord, and to rest in him.

And then, I encourage you to work on memorizing a Scripture that is important to you.  

A favorite term in our household is “sword Scriptures” – to memorize passages from the Word (which is the “sword of the Spirit” in Ephesians 6.17) and use them in our prayers, wielding them in prayer with the confidence that God will be faithful to his word.

What passage from the Scriptures is speaking to you these days?  Would you share them with us as a comment?  

This one of my most important “sword Scriptures”:

Psalm 18.1-3

I love you, O Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
    my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
    my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
    and I am saved from my enemies.

Let’s encourage one another to call upon the Lord during these uncertain and difficult times. Let’s build up our faith that he is God, and that there is no other.