My guest today is Afra Opoku, a physician and my friend from Ghana, West Africa. Her post draws parallels between the uncertainties of the exodus when Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt, and the scary uncertainties of Covid-19 we are now facing in the world.
Online connections have shrunk our world, and this pandemic has given us a truth that we are all affected by the unknowns. Afra is fighting this pandemic in her hospital in the same way we are battling here. The need for testing, face masks, and hope are something we all have in common. If you’d like to leave a comment I know it will encourage her on the other side of the world.
Uncertainties
By Afra Opoku
Can you imagine life during the exodus?
Yes Pharaoh had signed freedom papers, but what about what was due to come?
What would happen when the food ran out?
What would happen if they were attacked?
Where were they going?
Freedom sounded all well and good until you tried to figure out the logistics.
This was about as uncertain a season for Israel as would ever be in their history. And you’ve got to know that in a population of two million plus, more than a few asked these questions.
Life in March 2020 is channeling Israel coming out of Egypt.
The enemy is not Pharaoh. It’s a virus.
It’s the Uncertainty That’s Driving Us Up the Wall
The questions are not about the journey (or maybe they are). It’s the uncertainty that’s driving us up a wall.
On a planet with over six billion, you’ve got to know that a lot of us have asked more than a few questions.
When will this be over?
When will a cure be found?
How will we survive all things Covid?
How will life ever get back to normal?
You’ve probably asked these questions. I know I have.
Truth? I don’t have answers.
I have my postulates, but at this time I’m certain of nothing.
Except this.
The God we serve is not fazed by uncertainty.
The God we serve is not fazed by uncertainty. #GodIsFaithful #GodsGotThis Click To Tweet
God Holds the Certainty We Seek
What we don’t have the answers to, He does, and that’s the certainty we can hold on to.
When you read the entire book of Exodus you realize God had sea openings, manna, rock water, quail and Joshua waiting in the wings. He knew exactly what the Israelites were going to face and He knew exactly how He was going to provide for them.
And He did.
Sometimes He would share a bit of what was going to happen with Moses. Sometime He didn’t.
If you’re a Christian, your faith is being tested right now. It may seem silly to the world to believe in what you can’t see. Ironic, considering we can’t see the virus but boy do we know it’s real.
So is God by the way.
He knows how He’s going to see us through this. He knows how He’s going to get us out and He is as faithful today as He was thousands of years ago bringing his children out of Egypt.
God knows how He’s going to see us through this. He is as faithful today as He was thousands of years ago. #GodIsFaithful #GodsGotThis Click To Tweet
Today we read their story and wonder why Israel’s journey was peppered with so much fretting.
The God who brought them through the ten plagues was the same God who would bring them out of Egypt and into the Promised Land.
I doubt this is your first encounter with uncertainty. In all likelihood, God has showed up in your life on a different issue than this before.
God Hasn’t Changed – Our Uncertainties Are Not Uncertain to Him
Let me reassure you. He hasn’t changed.
Just because you don’t have answers doesn’t mean He does not.
He’s got solutions waiting in the wings that you’ve never thought about and He has millennia worth of experience deploying logistics in uncertain times.
That’s why you should not fret.
God’s got this.
Afra Opoku is a Christian, writer, physician and lover of all things hope. She lives in the serene city of Kumasi (Ghana) and loves to share her heart on afraopoku.com
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You really hit the nail on the head. We fear what we don’t know. And all this time we thought we had some control. This situation is eye-popping. And there is only one way to look–up. Great post!
Thanks for stopping in, Nancy. I agree. Afra has a way of getting to the heart of a matter. She is a wonderful writer and sharer of the Good News.
Thank you Nancy.God does have the answers.
Thank you, Afra for this wonderful post! I enjoyed the way you discussed how Israel’s journey mirrors our own during this pandemic. Our challenge is to remember that God is good all the time. This unseen virus is no match for the unseen God!
Sheree, Thanks for sharing your encouragement with Afra. I agree; her comparison really touched me too. He is good indeed
I totally agree Sheree. Thanks for the encouragement
Love this. Thank you, ladies!
Hi Sally! Wonderful to see you comment and name come up. So glad you enjoyed Afra’s post today. Blessings this weekend as you celebrate the risen savior.
Thank you Sally.
Afra, I so enjoyed your post. I think about tomorrow and the silence of Saturday on Holy Week. It was quiet, but God was there! Thank you for sharing here. I hope we “meet” again. Blessings!
Cathy, I love your observation of the stillness that first “Easter” – silence of those who followed Jesus and were shocked and grieved. Silence of the powers that be, thinking they had won. And silence in the tomb as the Spirit of God breathed new life in Jesus. Yes, God was there! And He is with us now.
Hi Cathy,
You’re so right. God always has the last word.
Afra, thank you for sharing a biblical perspective on the current situation. I prayed for your work and your witness. I love this sentence:
“He’s got solutions waiting in the wings that you’ve never thought about and He has millennia worth of experience deploying logistics in uncertain times.“
Jeannie, thank you for your comment and your prayer over Afra and her work in Ghana. I too love that sentence. No matter what people have faced in history, His sovereign solutions have arrived right on time.
Thank you Jeannie. I really appreciate you praying.
Thank you, Jeanne, for sharing Afra’s beautiful message with us. Love her perspective of Israel’s uncertainty to what we are facing right now. BUT GOD !
Also, Cathy’s “silence of Saturday”…..I know the LORD has this, nothing is a surprise to HIM. We are learning to watch and wait.
Thank you Jan. God’s got this.
Thank you, Jeanne, and Afra, for this reminder: “The God we serve is not fazed by uncertainty.” These are most certainly challenging and uncertain times, and I’m so glad that God is the certainty we can depend on. God is good – always. Happy Easter!