| I’ve been reciting The Lord’s Prayer a lot recently. The reason is, my daughter recommended it to me as an alternative to singing the ABCs or Happy Birthday while washing my hands. They all take roughly 20 seconds to complete, just the perfect timer for safe handwashing practice. Just a little tidbit for you if you’re looking for a change of pace! Quarantine has us all in a wilderness of endless confinement and feeling tempted. Tempted to panic. Tempted to be fearful. Tempted to hoard. Tempted to grow weary of our families. Tempted to watch our 401(k)s disappear. Tempted to watch Netflix every waking minute. Frankly, tempted to forget the completed work of Christ and the promises of the Word of God. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way…” (Psalm 46:1-2) Let’s give thanks to Jesus because of His dominance over temptation: Jesus can sympathize with our loneliness, frailty, and mortality through how He experienced total isolation in His weak, suffering body. Jesus will one day completely restore creation because He reversed the effects of the temptation in The Garden of Eden and fulfilled the prophecy to crush the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15). Jesus affirms God alone is our provider, our source of identity, and our sole object of worship… not our careers, our job titles, or our bank accounts.Jesus crushes even our pandemic-level troubles in the wilderness of His own temptation. We really, truly don’t have to keep worrying even if it feels like the world is giving way and collapsing around us. Just wanted to share some of the things I ponder 15 times a day when I get to the part where our Lord taught us to pray, “…And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6:13). |
