Psalm 121

¹I lift up my eyes to the hills —from where will my help come? ²My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. ³He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. ⁴He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. ⁵The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand. ⁶The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. ⁷The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. ⁸The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and for evermore.

This week marks the one-year anniversary of 2020’s mayhem in the United States.  Tuesday March 10^th, 2020 started early in the morning with an emergency visit as a member died.  To you who grieve remember “⁵The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand.” 

News was coming out that things were getting worse.  Throughout the day I was in contact with the chaplain at a retirement community to get updates.  The plan was a long day of visitation on Wednesday, trying to see as many members living there as I could.  Each update changed that plan.  It went from “yes, come on over, we are open” to “emergencies only” to “imminent death only” and finally “sorry, we are shut down.”  All in about 4 hours. 

The same thing happened in the nursing home where my mother was living.  I never got to see her before she passed.

Each of us has our stories of that week, as well as the following weeks.  We all have had our share of this pandemic – yet it continues.  Fortunately, things seem to be changing for the better and hopefully we can loosen more restrictions in a safe manner.

Yet whether under restrictions or not, under pandemic conditions or not, there is one constant: From where does our help come?  Our help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. 

Always remember this.  No matter what is going on in your life, no matter what the surrounding chaos is, God loves you, God is with you.  That is a promise.

Peace,

Pastor Bill