Dear Friends and Family of RRUMC,
Doubt! What a powerful word. It is a word that can cripple us. It is a word that can cause us to do things we normally would not do, or to not do something that we know we need to do or should do.
As we are now emerging from this crippling pandemic, there is still a lot of doubt out there about the future. There is a lot of doubt even among those of us who claim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; you know, the one who said, “I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!” (John 16:33)
It seems that many of us have forgotten how to take heart and we have forgotten that Jesus has already conquered the world.
When we remember those things, we are able to face anything life throws at us, even a pandemic. In James 1, James writes, “But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.”
The Greek word used in this text is “dipsuchos” which is translated, “a man with two souls or two minds inside him”. William Barclay says this about that person, “One believes, and the other disbelieves; and the man is a walking civil war in which trust and distrust of God wage a continual battle against each other.”
As we now see the light at the end of the tunnel, I BELIEVE. I believe that God is bringing this pandemic to an end. I believe that the world will come back to normal and, in fact, is already coming back to normal. I had COVID in December. I have bad both of my vaccine shots and I am well beyond the two weeks. I believe.
When we pray about the pandemic, our safety, God’s ability to bring this COVID thing to an end, we must believe in our hearts and minds that God will bring it to an end. If we do not believe God can be God in all our circumstances then we have already stripped God of his power in our lives.
I pray that, in all situations that lead you to prayer, that you believe in your heart and your soul that God can and will always do what he promises for each and every one of us.
May you not be tossed about like the waves of the sea. When you pray, BELIEVE!
Peace and Blessings,
Rev. Dan