Prayer That Thankfully There Is A God and I'm Not It

 If there’s one thing that has become clear during these many long months of the worldwide spread of this COVID-19 virus, it’s that there are many things that are bigger and more complex than we are.  Thank God that He is bigger than the biggest things we face and He is totally in control, working out His great purposes in all that happens to us from day to day.

When we observe the expanse of the universe and have some knowledge of the precision required to keep the planets, sun, moon and stars in place, we should be thankful that this is not a task that has been left in the care of a limited human being.

The Lord is high above all nations, His glory above the heavens.  Who is like the Lord our God, who dwells on high, who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth?  Psalm 113:4-6

Our lives are complex and require God’s knowledgeable precision to operate well.  When we choose to make our own decisions, we become our own god and our own care giver and supplier.  With our limited knowledge of life, it doesn’t take long before important things are dangerously “out of sync.” 

Look at the enormous impact one tiny virus that can only be observed under a microscope has had and continues to have across the face of the earth.  One tiny virus. What disaster would we face if God’s hand were not on everything, keeping things in order the way He created it, working for good even in the mistakes we make - because we make poor choices both because we rebelliously want our own way, and simply because we don’t know enough on our own to get things right.   

Each of us knows deep down inside us that there must be a God, for we really cannot do life alone. No season like this time of the pandemic has made that more obvious to us. And so we come to that God, knowing that He has us in mind, and is focused on working out good purposes in all things.

Loving God, you care for us and invite us to stay close to You so we

can benefit from the sound of Your voice as You lead us each day.

Forgive us for the times when we have doubted that You were with

us and wandered away on our own, thinking that we could manage.

One small thing out of balance and it’s so easy to see how wrong we

 are to think that our limited understanding of the way things work in

the world is sufficient to see us through. 

We are so grateful that today we can rely on Your wisdom and that

You give us Your Holy Spirit to live in us to show us everything we

need to know to follow Your plan and live within Your will.  We don’t have to know as much as You know.  We just have to apply what You

show us and take today one step at a time.  Help us to live in the

humility and wonder of this fact that You are God and we are not.

Love God, all you saints; God takes care of all who stay close to him,

but he pays back in full those arrogant enough to go it alone. 

Psalm 31:23

Thank you for Jesus who came to earth so that through His death and

resurrection we would be restored to You and live forever within the

circle of Your loving care and control. 

Thankfully, during this season of ups and downs that we know as life

here on earth, we know that You are with us – working on our behalf

and making good of all things.  Not only that, but we are also assured

that Jesus has gone ahead of us

to heaven to prepare a place for us where we will live with You

forever in perfection and joy.  Life on earth is better with You than

without You but we’re so grateful that the best is yet to come.  

God’s home is with people. He will live with them. They will be his

people. God himself will be with them and will be their God.  He will

wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death,

sadness, crying, or pain. All the old ways are gone. Revelation 21:3-4

God, today would you grant us serenity to accept the things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can, and wisdom to know the difference.  Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.  Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world, as it is, not as I would have it, trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with You forever in the next.  Amen