The Yellow Sweatshirt

I am posting a picture of this yellow sweatshirt because it just struck me funny the other day. Who really knows what the story is of the sweatshirt or how it came to land where it did-probably a teenage prank on a friend. I think I feel like the Yellow Sweatshirt right about now.

Stuck. No place to go. How I got here I don't know. Will I get back down? How long will I be here? Will there be someone to help me if I fall?

Don't we all feel like this whether we are facing an unknown killer virus or just life when we are struggling? I don't think I will ever look at this Yellow Sweatshirt again with the same eyes.

Over the last few days, I've read some funny things about the virus. I have a friend that said text us all the funny ones you see. I've blown up her phone with them. Every thing from toilet paper being hunted like deer, to Steven King writing 2020, to Charlie Daniel's re-write of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." I have laughed at least.

And then I see all the Bible verses. Guess which one has shown up the most? Psalm 91! I posted about this verse a month or so back. This verse is the one where God tells his angels to watch out for us.

I'd like to think that right about now, God has heaven on high alert. It's like one of those military movies where there is the heart of the operation center. God's giving out all kinds of directives to all the angels and souls that are helping out in this crisis situation. Maybe even a map of each country and someone in charge of this. God is telling everyone exactly what to do and how to do it. I have a vivid imagination.

Some people have been posting and re-posting 1 Kings 9:13-14 "Whenever I hold back the rain or send locusts to eat up the crops or send an epidemic on my people, if they pray to me and repent and turn away from the evil they have been doing, then I will hear them in heaven, forgive their sins, and make their land prosperous again." My issue with this verse is that it doesn't meet my vision of God. I don't believe that He sent this virus because we need to repent. Yes, we need to repent always-not just now. I don't believe this because this has happened over and over in history. This is not the first pandemic that has plagued the world. Mostly, I don't believe this because I feel like if you believe this verse and it's what's happening in the world you need to have a plan of action to change the world. Evil lives in the world among us. Posting this verse without an action to go with it is only a post. I believe this verse would require God's people to go out there and change the world. We aren't.

You see I have some Anne Frank in me. I agree with Anne that "In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." I happen to think that God is that way too. He believes in us. That's why I see Psalm 91 as the chapter that really is the heart of this matter. He is protecting us as much as he can from this evil. I believe that he does this over and over again.

There are many who would disagree with me. That's just fine. I choose to believe that God does not send destruction to us because He sent us Jesus! The Blood of the Lamb covers me- sends angels to protect me therefore, what have I to fear? Nothing. I will pray for my family's protection. I will repent of my own sins. I will do what my government tells me to do because I must have faith in their leadership. But, the greatest of all of these is have faith that God's mighty wings are covering me and I can rest in the folds of the feathers. I don't have to feel like the Yellow Sweatshirt because Jesus will catch me and help me and love me-always!