These are truly strange times. On one level things seem pretty normal. We work out of the house anyway, so we’re still doing what we always do. Yesterday the neighbor’s gardener came and trimmed some of their trees. Gas stations still pump gas, repair garages are full of cars they are working on. Street sweepers sweep, street maintenance crews dig holes and pour concrete. People walk their dogs, kids play in the streets, skateboarders skate. Neighbors talk over the fence. An occasional fire engine roars by, siren blaring.

But then you walk into a supermarket and everyone looks like they’re either ready to perform surgery or rob a bank. With their nose and mouth covered, it’s hard to see if people are smiling or glaring. And then you pick up the news and find out that the COVID-19 is the second major cause of death in this country and rapidly gaining on heart disease, and this is all in just a few weeks. It’s hard to believe today when everything seems so normal: the sky is a deep blue, the sun is warm; a slight breeze kisses my cheek. And yet, there is a silent, invisible killer on the loose. It could be next to you. And now we find out that thousands — maybe hundreds of thousands just in our county alone — may have had the virus and not known it.

This is when you have to put your life, and that of your loved ones in the hands of Almighty God. This is much too big for us to figure out. You can do what you can do, but you cannot be in charge. We cannot control this. This is a true test of trust and the reality of our faith. Either God is in control or He is not. Either life comes and goes at random or there is a purpose and a reason for everything. Either God comes and gets us, or we disappear into nothingness.

Hebrews says that faith is substance. It’s solid. It is self-evident. It is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Biblical hope is solid, not just a wish. You can’t see the Lord and His promises, but you can know the faith to believe it, and that faith itself is the proof that He is real and that He is the rewarder of those who seek Him. Jesus is right now preparing a place for us, and when we leave here, He is taking us there to be with Him forever. That is as real and as solid as the table my laptop is sitting on right now. Count on it.

Experience this faith with us tomorrow night (Wednesday at 6:00 p.m.) on Zoom when we dig into the Bible together and share our heart concerns.