Daly Focus Blog
News broke over the weekend of a drive-by shooting at the West Monroe, Louisiana, property of Willie Robertson, the star of the “Duck Dynasty” franchise.
According to police reports, 8 shots were fired from a car outside the fence that surrounds the home. One of the bullets broke through the window of a house owned by son John Luke Robertson, who is married to Mary Kate and has an infant child.
Thankfully, nobody was injured, but the incident understandably rattled the family.
With much
of the country weeks into a lockdown, calls to the National Mental Health
Hotline have increased by almost 900 percent.
The
uncertainty of these times is resulting in a steep rise in anxiety and
depression. For many, social distancing has turned into social isolation. Some
have turned away from people and toward food, alcohol, online shopping, and
pornography. Others are suffering from racing thoughts, sleepless nights, and irritability.
It becomes
a trap. When we’re anxious and fearful, we can’t concentrate, our creativity
and productivity go down, and it’s hard to see options.
We’ve just come through Easter, a time when many churches in America experience near record attendance. The coronavirus changed all of that this year, of course.
Congregations are being wonderfully innovative, and many are streaming their services on their websites or through social media channels. Some are even reporting that their online metrics suggest they’re reaching more with the Gospel than ever before.
It’s just like the Christian church to thrive in crisis!
But not every church is thriving and reaching more people.
History is always a good teacher.
If you were to visit the National Archives building in Washington, D.C., you’d see two separate statues just outside its Pennsylvania Avenue entrance.
One is a sculpture that contains a paraphrase of a quote from Confucius. It reads, “Study the past.” The figure is holding a closed book representing history’s previous events.
The other is a sculpture titled, “Future,” and at its base is a line from Shakespeare’s “Tempest” – “What is Past is Prologue.”
In other words, everything that’s happened contributes to everything that’s happening today and that will occur tomorrow.
Should God receive credit for the turning of the tide of the coronavirus global pandemic?
Not according to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Speaking earlier this week, the Empire State’s chief executive, who is Catholic, was blunt:
“The number is down because we brought the number down,” he told reporters. “God did not do that. Faith did not do that. Destiny did not do that. A lot of pain and suffering did that…That’s how it works. It’s math.
Words matter.
Every year contains its share of popular terms and catch phrases, words uttered and written so often that they become part of the national vernacular. In the build-up to President Donald Trump’s impeachment in 2019, it was “quid pro quo” – a Latin phrase that means, basically, a favor for a favor.
In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, everyone from the president of the United States down to local community leaders have made “social distancing” the latest household phrase, and with the very best of intentions.
Since the outbreak and escalation of the coronavirus pandemic in March, pastors and faith leaders throughout the United States have cooperated with local and state officials in doing their part to “flatten the curve” of the pathogen by either canceling or transitioning in-person church services to online platforms.
For anyone born over the course of the last one-hundred years, the changes in weekly worship habits have been unprecedented. In fact, church services during the Spanish flu epidemic between 1918 and 1920 carried on as usual – for good or bad.
On the 100th day of the COVID-19 global pandemic, I would offer to you that the world has learned a few lessons.
This list is hardly exhaustive, but it’s nevertheless irrefutable – at least from my perspective:
1. We are not in control. God is.
2. Humans are frail, fragile – and resilient.
3. Because of sin, bad things happen to everyone.
4. No matter how dark the night, the sun rises in the morning.
5.
Although Wall Street’s rout seems to have stabilized in recent days since the first surge of coronavirus cases, the volatility of the financial markets is nevertheless unprecedented in modern times.
Your perspective of this last month may mirror the late President Reagan’s witty observation of long ago:
“Recession is when your neighbor loses his job,” he once remarked. “Depression is when you lose yours.”
Economic experts are working feverishly to stabilize the markets. Part of the emergency relief plan involves stimulus checks for families – funds that should be received in the coming weeks.
Are
you suffering financially because of the coronavirus pandemic? If so, our
broadcast “Trusting God in Today’s Economy” is for you!
We’re
airing a message by Steve Farrar, the author of Manna: When You’re Out of Options, God Will Provide. Steve
recorded this talk a few years ago in response to the stock market crash of
2008, but the principles he shared are timeless.
At some point, each of us finds
ourselves in a wilderness – moments where we are utterly dependent on God to help
us through circumstances that are beyond our control.
Jim Daly is a husband, father and President of Focus on the Family and host of its National Radio Hall of Fame broadcast. His blog, Daly Focus, is full of timely commentary and wisdom designed to help you navigate and understand today’s culture. His latest book is Marriage Done Right.
