Starts and Stops (Friday Devotional)

 

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.

- Psalm 107:1

When my family drove to Memphis a few weeks ago, one of the things we found there was an unexpected treat: fall weather. The mornings and evenings were brisk but pleasant, not yet accompanied by the bite of a winter chill. The afternoons were positively Californian—highs in the mid-70s and sunny, neither too hot nor too cold. And most impressive of all, everywhere we looked the leaves were a canvas of colors, falling to the ground in shades of orange and red and yellow.

In Texas, we famously don’t see much of a fall (or a spring). Summer weather stretches into October—it’s not unusual to see someone sipping on Starbucks’ famed pumpkin spice latte while sweating through a 90 degree day—and then, seemingly without warning, one morning it’s 40 degrees and we collectively realize that winter is upon us. Similarly, the beautiful spring which other states enjoy often eludes us—we move from cold and rainy February to warm and humid March to dry, hot April. For Texans, our seasons don’t change through periods of steady transition, but in starts and stops.

This year of COVID-19 has been like Texas weather in that respect. In March, one day we were dining in restaurants and going to basketball games, and the next we were leaving home only to brave the toilet paper hoarders at the grocery store. A few months later, the pandemic seemed to be taking a back seat to other concerns, only for a fresh surge in cases to send us back inside. And now we find ourselves in the middle of yet another devastating wave of cases, one that has people cancelling holiday plans and wondering how much more we can endure. Just when we think we have a handle on things, a new crisis emerges; trouble doesn’t come steadily but in starts and stops.

In these jarring times, we can be thankful that heaven’s business remains unchanged. Even as governmental policies and mandates change based on circumstances, God’s Word stands the test of time. Even when the headlines announce yesterday’s tragedies and hope for tomorrow’s triumphs, the gospel remains Good News every day. Even when we, in our weakness, bounce between caring for our neighbors one moment and ignoring them the next, God’s steadfast love endures forever.

Seasons come and go, whether in orderly transition or in starts and stops. This pandemic, even as it continues to rage today, will also someday come to an end—and may that day come quickly, Lord Jesus! But through all the starts and stops, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob is also the God of 2020. So in a year in which consistency has been hard to come by, may we give thanks to the one who has been with us through it all.