UNTRAINED July 1, 2020

My main mentor (maternal grandmother) was not yet born during the time of the Spanish Flu, but she survived the Second World War.  Hence, she was only able to train me mentally and psychologically on survival skills, with the enemy known and seen.  Like many others today, I wasn’t able to get second-hand real life information on how to live through a war where the enemy is invisible yet more deadly.

Thankfully, as a believer, there is one reliable source for hope—one that would ensure we survive sane and whole as a person, no matter the battles we face daily.  And it is the Word of GOD.

We read today in the book of Psalms, chapter 17, how the Psalmist prayed to GOD about the trials he is also facing daily.  He started off with appealing for GOD’s attention and listening ears.  He asked GOD to prove His heart, and resolved to even speak right so that he may not sin.  He prayed that GOD hold up his ways so that he will not slip up.  He asked for GOD’s loving-kindness and for the privilege to be the apple of His eyes.  He prayed that GOD would deliver him from all his enemies, and instead destroy them.  Lastly, he resolved that after all his tribulations, he shall behold GOD’s face (His glory, and all the beauty of His holiness as manifested in His works), and feel satisfied.

We see here a radical way of looking at things and seemingly supernatural ways of trying to survive.  Instead of the emergency supplies grandma instructed to always prepare during times of typhoons and other disasters, we see one who is fully dependent on GOD for his provision, and going so far as to demanding that GOD turn His full attention to him.  It is rather too much to ask for, yet we know that the GOD we serve is really that generous and more.  He can afford much more than to give us our daily bread, but our provision for eternity too.  More than the bomb shelters or solid cellars or foxholes that grandma talked about as sort of escape rooms, here we see someone who fully trusts GOD to keep him safe and envelop him, shielding him from harm and destruction.

This really takes a lot of faith, but in fact, that is all we need to survive this pandemic and the many probably worse calamities that might befall us in the future.  Thankfully, we know that we have a GOD who is attentive to our needs, who is concerned and actively works to preserve us and to provide for us, and to give us hope and encouragement.  Though we may be untrained for these sufferings, we have confidence that when we put our hope in Him, we will survive better, we will thrive, and a greater life awaits us in the future.