Now what?

It seems like this has been not just a daily question in our house but sometimes hourly. Things with our old “normal” seem so distant. Last week was our regularly scheduled spring break, which didn’t yield many accomplishments as we all tried to wrap our heads around the status of the world. Now we find ourselves pushed in to at least another 2 weeks of our new “normal”, which is not what anyone wants. The planner in me wants to get back on a schedule and have someone tell me that this will all be finished and worth it in 2 weeks. However, I’ve had to push that side of me to the back and became more “go with the flow”. I’m sure many of you are experiencing something similar. While most of us crave structure and security, those are things that will not be prevalent in the coming weeks if we look with our natural eyes. Many people find themselves going from having every minute of their families’ days scheduled to being only able to see your family members for hours on end. That in itself is a challenge! We had plans! We could see what the coming months were going to bring! We had the security of our health, family and jobs! Now many people are in a tail spin as one or more of those areas faces major changes and uncertainty. So what can help?

For the past few months I’ve been working my way through the book of Job and not really enjoying it. It’s a lot of speeches and back and forth about how Job’s friends think he should feel about his suffering and how Job actually feels. Ironically, I finished the book today and found comfort in chapter 42, the final chapter. Job says to the Lord, “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2 NIV). Well said! These are crazy, unprecedented times we are navigating. But, at the end of it all, God remains the same. Even though this event we are in was meant to scare us and derail us from our lives, God plans for us have not changed. He knew exactly where we would be today and what situations would surround us. His plans for us are good! I believe that we will come out of this situation better and wiser than when it started. Take time to find the good in each day and thank Him that his plans for us remain unchanged!