A Peculiar People

I recently spoke with a friend who had been on a video conference call earlier this week with a group of Christian business people. He told me how much he was struck by the long faces of his Christian friends. No one cracked a smile as they discussed what was going on in their business lives during this crazy time. After watching for a while, my friend called out the fact that no one seemed to be exhibiting much joy on the call. Everyone smiled momentarily. But before long they were back to melancholy visages ("that's a good word," my dad would say).

So what's the deal?! This small group of Christians is just a representation of what's going on out there in Christendom these days. A wise man once told me, "you can't export what you don't have." Frankly, many of us Christians are just as worried about Corona-vid as everyone else. And it's all over our faces. We don't reflect much peace or hope to the world, let alone exude joy. Why the heck do we associate ourselves with Jesus if we don't bear any of His markings, or exhibit any of His fruit? We're not very savory to people that don't know Jesus.

We have a God that never leaves us nor forsakes us! But many of us have an attitude as if God has been off doing something else while the difficulties were mounting--like He was enjoying a mini-vacation from being a part of our lives. We're waiting for God to "show up," but He never left in the first place! He's everywhere all the time. He's that powerful! He doesn't have to be in one place at a time. He never leaves our side--He's that loving. And He isn't at all surprised by the virus, the effect it's having on our daily lives, or our economy, because He is all-knowing.

Wouldn't it be great if we had a friend who not only knew everything but was also able to do anything, AND who deeply loved us and was willing to work on our behalf? That would be amazing!

Seriously. Come on Christians! We have a father/brother/savior/best friend that is all that and a party-size bag of Cool Ranch Doritos (which, by the way, now have more cool ranch seasoning on the chips again. So they are just like they were originally back in 6th grade! Thank you God! Talk about savory!). So let's get something really important straight once and for all: God doesn’t “show up,” He “shows off!” He's not a hero in a movie that "shows up" just in the nick of time to stop the bomb from going off or the building from collapsing. God, you crazy guy! Where the heck have you been! You always do this! Were you taking a nap or something when I needed you?

Deuteronomy 31:8 “And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.” Take heart! God is on the case! God is working Coronavid for your good. You may not see it for now but God is with you and for you, and He is actively loving you all day long! He’s “daily loading us with benefits” (Psalm 68:19). I forget that so often. He’s not just blessing me here and there, or showing up when I really need Him; He’s heaping loads of blessings on us every day!

That thought makes me joyful because God is so freaking amazing. But it also makes me a little frustrated with myself because if He is loading me with blessings, and I recognize maybe one or two a day, max, then what the heck am I paying attention to?! Why am I not more watchful for what He is doing in my life? Why am I not vigilant for when and where He shows off? I can tell you this: if we concentrated a lot more of our attention on watching for His many blessings, we would become UNworried pretty darn quickly! Instead of asking, "God, where are you?" we should be saying, "God, please show me all the good you are working through this situation."

That's my thought for the week: let's be vigilant for God's blessings and keep our minds on Him. He will put perfect peace in our hearts, hope in our minds, and joy on our faces! And others will see those fruit and be drawn to all that we have in Christ. We will be his "peculiar [smiling, savory!] people; that should show the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvellous light" (1 Peter 2:9).