Like many people, I have an ever-expanding Spotify playlist of my favourite songs.
As a bit of a ‘muso’ it's quite extensive and eclectic.
With Spotify having random shuffle as the default setting it can be quite a while before any particular song plays so this morning I listened to the Counting Crows song 'I wish I was a girl' for the first time in quite a while.
In these times of social distancing and isolation I was grabbed by these lines:
"For all the things you're losing
You might as well resign yourself to try and make a change" (Adam Duritz)
Only a few short weeks ago all of us had a thing or things that were our default focus when we had free time. Now, a lot of those things are out of reach, off-limits, or can't be engaged in the same way as before. They are to all intents 'lost' to us.
Sport, cinema, band practice, concert venues, the pub, non-essential workplaces, even church buildings are out of bounds and here in the UK at least, even access to the great outdoors is severely restricted and increasingly heavily regulated and people are clearly finding the sudden halt strange to process, perhaps even difficult to deal with.
As a social media generation, I'm sure most if not all of us have seen posts like "we're all missing (insert favourite sport/pastime here) so very much. Post a picture…"
Christians in the UK are getting used to the fact that for the next while we cannot meet together for acts of worship Sunday by Sunday. We too have taken to using social media as a tool to keep some level of connectivity. Church leaders are getting to grips with apps and platforms such as Facebook, Livestream, WhatsApp, YouTube, and Zoom in an effort to keep congregations feeling connected.
Individuals are also using various social media platforms to share their faith with whosoever engages. For may, Psalm 46v10 seems to be a 'go to' at times like this.
"Be still, and know that I am God;"
The coronavirus pandemic has almost in the blink of an eye brought an end to the busyness of life. The command to be still hasn't been listened to so now we've been forced to stop and be still.
It doesn't take too long in periods of quiet before you begin to notice sights and sounds that you might ordinarily have missed. Birdsong. The wind in the trees. Animals playing near a hedgerow.
Look again at Psalm 46v10 above. Did you notice the semi-colon?
It's important. It says 'There is something more and that something is worth noticing.'
What comes after it is "I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Why are we to be still?
To know that He is God.
The Old Testament prophet Haggai writes "Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.'" Haggai 1:5-8
Feels kinda 'now-ish' doesn't it?
"Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts." Psalm 46v6
All out plans, everything we've invested in (or planted) is not delivering a bumper harvest right now and for many, the purse with holes in it definitely rings true. Plus, if we are honest the stuff about food, drink, and clothes - that all resonates too!
For many people, as Adam Duritz succinctly expressed, the sense of - and actual - loss has people at a loss as to what to do to make things better. Any changes made are done in blind hope, perhaps even panic that they may work. Expectations are low. Certainty? Certainly not!
It need not be so.
Back in Psalm 46 we read that "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging." Psalm 46 v1-3
Of Psalm 46 the commentator Matthew Henry points out "He will be exalted in the earth and not merely in the church."
So, with all this extra time on our hands, whether you are a Christian or not, are you resigned to making changes or are you giving careful thought to your ways?
Be still.
And Know.
