We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair.

–2 Corinthians 4:8 (NIV)

Paul challenged the Corinthian believers to consider the greatness of their calling as disciples of Jesus Christ.  In these early days of Christianity, the disciples faced many difficulties.  Paul encouraged them to not lose heart.  We are surely hard-pressed and perplexed these days!  Not many people would argue against this ancient description of our present circumstances.  Every day, news of the numbers affected by the coronavirus highlights our primary concerns around a highly contagious disease.  Out of the more than 7.7 billion people in the world, there are over 4.5 million confirmed cases with a 36% recovery rate.  Out of the more than 4.5 million cases, over 93% are still residing on this side of heaven.  Praise God!  Yet, virtually every single one of us is dealing in varying ways with the prolonged threat to our mental/emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being.  When we factor in all of the other headline news plus the other issues and concerns affecting our daily lives, Paul’s declaration still makes sense to us today as we strive to heed the call in Matthew 4:19 to follow Jesus.  We must not lose heart!

A young man who is a member of our church asked me just the other day, “When do

you think we’ll get to go back to church?  I miss church.”  With weekly church services and activities providing many people of all ages one of their key opportunities for regular connection and community, it is easy to see how desperate we might begin to feel by this time.  “Hold on,” I told him, “just a little longer.  Eventually, we will get back together, but not yet.”  As this young man went on to explain his anxiety over the interruption to his plans, his boredom, and an entire myriad of personal concerns, it was apparent that he couldn’t easily see past these current circumstances to muster up much hope for the future.  Worrying wasn’t doing him any good.  As Matthew 6:30-34 will confirm, “tomorrow will take care of itself.”  Still, like most of us today, he needed a bit of encouragement—a reminder to hold on just a little while longer.

“Hold On Just A Little While Longer” is an old negro spiritual where people entrenched in slavery were encouraging themselves and one another to look forward to a time when their unbearable situation would change.  As history confirms, “a little while longer” took hundreds of years.  It’s a present-day reminder that your perspective…your mindset…how you look at the whole matter makes a tremendous difference on how you come out on the other side of it.  It is an encouragement to take this thing one day at a time. 

 “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. –Luke 21:34-35 (NIV)

There is a trap Satan would like us to fall into during this time.  As the weeks go by, Satan would like us to lose all sight of our calling as disciples of Jesus Christ and become consumed by the worries of this world.  Be on guard, friends, and rely on our faithful God to help you cope with our present situation.  There are so many questions and so many uncertainties, and we just don’t have the answers.  But, glory to God, we as believers can rest in the knowledge that we know the one who does!  The Word of God is here to remind us that not only should we hold on through these uncertain and unsettling times, but, also, that we have a certain and a settling God to hold onto.  So, you see, we can, and we must hold on!  Hold on to our hope!  Hold on to our faith!  Hold on to God’s unchanging hand!  Jesus is coming back soon!  Be encouraged today!  Hold on just a little while longer!

I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. –Revelations 3:11 (NIV)