Navigating the Waves

Inever thought I would miss the lockdown days of this pandemic, but here we are. I must admit life was easier when the instructions were clear. Just stay home. A cut and dry directive. Now, as things have continued to open and people have started to cautiously widen their social circles, we are solidly in a gray area. There is no clear black and white on what we can and cannot do. The questions feel endless. Take out or outside dining? Mask or no mask? Small gathering or no gathering? Homeschool or hybrid school or distance learning? Return to church or worship from home? Worth the risk or not worth the risk? And how big even is the risk? In any given moment, our understanding of this virus is so limited by the unknowns. This is new territory for all of us. With limited understanding, our knowledge is incomplete and subject to growth. We may become confused by conflicting messages. We may have a perspective that is subject to change. So how do we know that we are making the best decision? How can we know what is right answer?

Father God, we pray for grace in our decision-making and the decision-making of others who find themselves in a similar situation. We rely on your guidance and peace as we attempt to navigate the choppy waters of these unknown circumstances. We pray that you allow us to come together in these turbulant times instead of allowing our differences in opinion to pull us apart

Simply put, we can’t. I believe there is no right answer to how we choose to navigate these uncertain times. We can only make decisions that are best for the health and welfare of ourselves and our families based on what we currently know. But Ephesians 4:14-15 reminds us that the process of maturing as a Christian is similar to the process of gaining knowledge in the natural world. As Christians, we “mature” until we are “no longer infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching.” As Christians as in life, we must remain truth-seeking, but also willing to be corrected with new and better evidence. We must remain open to growing in our understanding. We must be accepting and respectful of the decisions of others who are also “tossed back and forth in the waves.” We must realize that we are all just doing the best we can with the resources available to us. And in the meantime, we must take comfort in the steadfast truth: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him”.