Facing Good Friday with Covered Faces

There’s nothing easy about a pandemic,

but it’s not the first time our world has faced a crisis.

And I’m thinking it won’t be the last.

So what do we do when life is hard?

Where do we turn when every path leads the same direction?

I mean, pandemics can rarely be escaped by a road trip or vacation.

By their very nature, they are generally inescapable.

So here we are.

Staying home.

Or wearing masks when anywhere else.

And all the while wondering when this will all end?

My daily Bible reading is centered on the life of David right now.

The shepherd-boy-turned-king who made a name for himself when he faced Goliath with five smooth stones.

The Israelites must have felt a lot like us that particular day.

Their enemy wasn’t a virus

but there was no denying the truth:

They were up against a nation who was pressing in hard and determined to destroy them.

And when David showed up with bread for his brothers,

I don’t think anyone expected him to join the battle….

and win.

But they didn’t know what we know.

They didn’t know David had been preparing for this day for a very long time.

Protecting sheep by fighting off all sorts of wild animals with his bare hands had built some very special strength and courage.

And singing praise songs in between had built some very deep trust and confidence in a God who had created both the sheep and the wolf.

So maybe this pandemic is our Goliath.

And what we’ve been doing up to today has prepared us for this moment.

All the battles along the way.

Those many moments when the enemy slipped in and tried to get the best of us……

but lost.

They were just getting us ready for this war.

Think about it for a minute.

After all we’ve faced, we’re still here.

Even if our faces are covered.

So what do we do with COVID-19

and the fact that today is Good Friday?

(A phrase by the way that has never made sense to me.

Is there anything good about the day Jesus hung on a cross?

Why isn’t it called Sad Friday?

Shouldn’t we have saved the word “Good” for Sunday?

Good Sunday.

I like that so much better.)

Maybe that leads us to the answer to the earlier question.

Good Friday was never really good.

It was believing Sunday was coming that made it bearable.

And maybe the way we face today with our faces covered is by knowing and believing the very same thing.

Sunday is coming.

Just as surely as this pandemic will end in time.

And the many battles God has carried us through already are reminders He is still carrying us today.

The difference this time is that we are ALL being carried at once.

David faced Goliath carrying five smooth stones,

but he only needed one to win the war.

Jesus faced the cross carrying the weight of the sins of the world on His shoulders

but He only had to move one large stone to win the war.

We’re facing a pandemic with covered faces and empty hands

but it’s the Rock we’re standing on that will ultimately win this war.

The same Rock that has pulled us up out of pit after pit.

Even if we never realized it, we’ve been preparing for this “Good” Friday every day of our lives.

Just like David and Jesus

prepared for theirs.

We’ve been building strength, courage, trust, and confidence all along the way.

So today, put on your armor back on.

Pick up your sword.

The battle is the Lord’s.

With covered faces may we all, like David, face this Good Friday with the very same words,

“You come against me with sword and spear and javelin,

but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty.”

I Samuel 17:45

May this Good Friday be the best Good Friday ever because we know deep in our hearts an even better Sunday is coming!!

And so is a world without COVID-19.

In His beautiful and perfect time.

I love you all so much!

We’re going to make it!