Stay Focused amid crisis

​When the coronavirus hit the United States early this year, it was thought that the pandemic would go away soon enough. That hasn’t been the case, with COVID-19 infections surging once more as states and cities across the U.S. reopened only to be forced to shut down again. Moreover, with the tragic demise of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, many in America and elsewhere have taken to the streets in protest against racial injustice.
 
Indeed, racism – and other forms of prejudice and discrimination – have been referred to as maladies afflicting the very fabric of society. If anything, the pandemic has sharpened racial and social cleavages in America between the “haves” who are able to retain their jobs and work remotely, while sheltering at home, and the “have nots” who cannot afford to do so. Far from letting up, the situation seems to have worsened. When it rains, it pours!
 
At times like this, I confess to feeling a bit helpless amid the unremitting onslaught of crises. To be sure, I continue to keep faith in the Lord God whom I worship and serve for He alone is sovereign, all-knowing, and all-powerful to bring about transformative change. I firmly believe that Christ can rescue and deliver. But I’d be lying if I were to insist that I haven’t been affected by the developments of the past weeks. I share the lament of Asaph, Israel’s worship leader during King David’s reign. Declaring that God is good to those who are pure in heart, Asaph then makes a startling confession: “But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold” (Psalm 73:2).
 
Asaph’s admission pretty much describes how I felt! Likewise, my feet nearly slipped when the dire negativity of the present circumstances threatened to overwhelm me. Asaph’s words give voice to my deep sense of frustration and helplessness as I pondered lives heedlessly lost and livelihoods destroyed due to disease and discrimination: “When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you” (Psalm 73:21-22).
 
Whenever I chance upon the foregoing verses, I think of the fictional Marvel character The Incredible Hulk, whom Bruce Banner uncontrollably morphs into whenever he loses his cool. (Obviously, I perused one too many a comic in my younger days…) Whenever the Hulk appears, he invariably ends up leaving a trail of untold destruction. Oh, how often I’ve allowed my heart and spirit to be grieved and embittered, how I’ve become senseless and ignorant – a brute beast before God in the face of pandemic and prejudice! As Solomon once put it, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23). Old King Solly sure knew what he was talking about!
 
In his previous life as Saul the persecutor of followers of the Way, the Apostle Paul knew a thing or two about causing the death and destruction of innocents. However, in an amazing letter to his disciple Timothy, Paul, warning against increasing societal lawlessness and willful persecution of Christians aspiring to live godly lives in Christ Jesus, offers a piece of sound and sage advice: “But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:5). Rather than devolving into the uncontrollable brute beast of Psalm 73, I am to keep my head screwed on tight and not lose it in emo fits. I am to stay true to my God-appointed calling and work, and to endure the hardships that come with the territory of godly servanthood.
 
How am I to accomplish all this? How, in the face of crisis, can I avoid worldly distractions and entanglements, and focus on doing and completing God’s will? Not by my own strength, surely! Asaph supplies the answer: “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:25-26).
 
Jesus, be the Strength of my heart and my Portion forever, amen.