May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had.
I received a postcard from a dear friend in Florida yesterday. She said, “I believe that when all this virus mess is behind us, we will see how truly courageous and brave and strong and hopeful we truly are.” This morning I was greeted by this passage from Romans in one of my daily meditation emails, which reinforced her words. They may not look the same to you, but they do to me because of this:
She is the person who taught me about her God, the one who loves all of us and forgives when we ask to be forgiven. The God who is sad when we mess up, and joyful when we return to the better way. The God who grieves with us and rejoices with us, is filled with compassion for us, and wants only the best for us. That is the God who gives us the courage and bravery and strength and hope that we need to get through “all this virus mess.” And that is the God I believe in today, thanks in very large part to my friend in Florida.
Coming to believe in that God and following my friend’s example, I learned a little bit about how to love the unloveable, how to pray for blessings on people I really don’t like, how to forgive things I thought were unforgivable. . . things that are part of that “attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had.”
Right now, during this “virus mess”, we need encouragement and endurance even more than usual as we walk through the daily fears, frustrations and uncertainties caused by all the Covid19-related restrictions - the isolation, the unfulfilled need for human contact and human touch, even the shortage of disinfectant wipes. God provides the strength we need to endure and the encouragement which allows us to accept today as it is.
Gracious and loving God, we give you thanks for your daily blessings and gifts. May these gifts help us to be more like Jesus, loving one another as he did, and as you do. Amen.
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