Peace in the midst of the storm

Editor’s note: Local clergy will be contributing columns each Saturday for the Faith page during the COVID-19 crisis.

In the lives of all who are living today, nothing has ever upturned our world like the events of recent weeks. To be sure, there have been traumatic events that have affected countries and cities and regional locations, but nothing on the scale of what we see now. This is an event that our children will remember for years to come.

Most of us are aware of fires, earthquakes and floods. Most anytime you can go online and watch videos of events that have taken place. We know that in the end the fire burns out, the earth stops shaking and the waters recede. And this worldwide pandemic will also cease! While we are selfquarantining and doing everything else those in authority are telling us to do, we anxiously await the outcome. Like children in the backseat of dad’s old Ford, “Are we there yet?” We want to hurry up and get back to what we have known as normal!

As a pastor, my reference points are my nearly 50 years of Christian ministry. It has been my experience that bad things do happen to good and innocent people, but eventually things get better. In preaching, I always point to the Lord Jesus Christ and the life He lived while here.

We are approaching the Easter season. In the church, this season is leading up to the crucifixion of Christ. In those days, society was under the thumb of the Roman Empire and oppression was a constant way of life. At that time, much of the world was under Rome’s rule. Fear was a very real part of life. In those final days of His life, in St. John 16:12 Jesus said to His disciples when they questioned him about what was happening, he said, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot