Unprecedented Times

         It would seem that if there is a word for the year, it would be the word, “unprecedented.” I have heard that word used in reference to the current “germ” activity and applied to the days in which we are living, the disease that we are experiencing, the opening and closing of businesses, schools and churches and the instructions on how to deal with all of the above things at once. I was accustomed to beginning school right after Labor Day in September and finishing each school year some time in the latter days of May. You didn't even need a notice or a visit from some official to give us the news. That was just the way it was. The plans for school openings in our area as of a couple of days ago, was that different age groups would begin on different calendar days. Some classes were to be online. When asked about these differences and what is going on usually a person will begin their reply with, “We are living in unprecedented times.” All of these unprecedented times leave many people with a people of dismay to say the least and in some cases outright anger. Our world, as we knew it before, has changed. What are we to do? Philippians 4:8 says, “ Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” 

          The Apostle Paul, by the power of the Holy Spirit, penned these words as God gave him direction, in order to instill a manner of peace and hope in the lives of people in any and every age. I would guess that there were those who said at the fall of the Roman Empire, “We are living in unprecedented times.” They may have eve said it when the signed the Declaration of Independence. They probably said it when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. If you wait long enough you will find yourself in unprecedented times. There are few things in this life that are constant and the most common one is the Word of God. The exhortation of Paul gives instruction to the believer to focus his or her thinking on a different category than the circumstances in which they may find themselves. Paul also wrote in Romans 12:1-2 that we are to experience mind “renewal.” Our minds are often the source of either our peace or our anxiety, our peace or our frustration, our peace or our war. In this case, we find as in other situations, that there is one route in which every believer should be traveling and it is that our minds are focused upon the Lord Jesus Christ and all that He provides for us in whatever state we find ourselves. The first attribute mentioned is that of truth. We are to think on whatever things are “true.” Contradictions can be found often within a short amount of time in our current issue but there is still one thing that remains true and that is the Word of God. The Scriptures remind us that God loves us, that He sent His Son to die for our sins, that His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, will return again and that He will never leave us nor forsake us. We could say, “selah.” Think about this for a moment. Now, do this for each of the words that are mentioned in Philippians 4:8. You will find that this simple passage will give you comfort even in these unprecedented times and even in every other type of time in our lives. It is our “Rock of Gibraltar” and we can have a peace and calmness about us that is unknown to countless millions of people who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise God today for His working in our lives to provide perfect peace in our period of unprecedented times.