Coronavirus, Chaos, and Confidence.

I was driving back from Fort Wayne when all of the reports started blowing up my phone. This is now cancelled. That is now postponed. March Madness won’t have One Shining Moment this Spring. IHSAA Basketball, NHL, NBA, XFL, PGA, NASCAR everything on the planet (it seemed) will be affected by this coronavirus. I’ve never felt anxiety like that before and I, honestly didn’t know why I was feeling it; but it was definitely there.

So, we are in this incredibly chaotic, new and unknown normal it seems, and for the foreseeable future. I’m positive I haven’t watched the news with this intent in a very long time. I watched a whole White House Press Conference today and I know, for a fact, that has never happened in my life time. I don’t watch out of panic, I am legitimately interested in what they are doing and thinking. It has been quite insightful to me.

In all of this, I have this found myself all over the map when it comes to how I’m viewing this. There are moments of confidence that things are going to work out which can give way to feelings of anxiety when I think of all the things that are on the horizon. There is so much potential here for both disappointment and incredible opportunities.

At the very beginning of this, my executive pastor offered a devotional and he featured a passage of Scripture that has been sitting in my mind the last few days:

“They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.” - Psalm 112:7

I am so empowered by that passage because not only is it reassuring, it’s challenging. What will I trust in? the luxuries of my everyday life or the truth of His faithfulness? My plan and perspective for my life, or his perfect purposes and plans that are being worked out no matter the level of chaos or confidence in my soul?

In all of this, the question for believers is this:

Where has your confidence always come from?

We are made content and confident by the truth of the hope that we expect when we pass into eternity. What storm changes that reality? What chaos bumps us to alter that course?

The Church should remain confident because of promise provided by the perseverance Christ displayed by going to the Cross. Will more bad news come? Probably. Will more news come that causes us anxiety? More than likely. The question is was the truth and promise that caused you to be confident yesterday remind you that you can be confident today?

Let’s go Church. Let’s be savvy. Let’s be wise. Let’s trust smart people. But above all, let’s be confident that this too shall pass and we will be better because of it and there isn’t a storm that is going to cause the truth of the gospel to somehow become untrue.