Joel 3:17 “So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall never again pass through it. “And in that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the streambeds of Judah shall flow with water; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord and water the Valley of Shittim. “Egypt shall become a desolation and Edom a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the people of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem to all generations. I will avenge their blood, blood I have not avenged, for the Lord dwells in Zion.”
Zephaniah 3:14-16 Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil. On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak.
We live in a time when it is hard to see God’s hand at work in our world. But if this pandemic is not from the hand of God then what are we thinking it can be from. God is sovereign and has plans and purposes far above our understanding. Do we think He needs to explain what He is doing for our approval? The fact that we do not know should not lead us away from God. Whatever His plans, whatever His purpose, we can rejoice in the fact that He is our God. He loves us. He sent His Son to redeem us. He called us unto Himself. He has promised eternal life. He has promised us refuge, hope, peace, rest, love, power, and courage through faith in Him alone no matter what the circumstance. We are to rejoice in Him. In times of trials, our voices of praise and worship of God should grow louder, not weaker. Our trust and faith are more strong. Our resolve to trust Him more, more firm. Our home is not here. Our home and destination is in heaven with Jesus Christ. I wonder if we too often consider this our home and lose focus and vision of our eternal home.
No matter what comes our way we can be assured God is in control and His plans and purposes will be accomplished. We can be assured of this.
