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The Scarlet Letter of COVID-19.

Health Update

Today, I’m feeling much better. Just a little coughing. My energy is up. I’m feeling generally normal, except for a few minor symptoms that are still hanging on. I’m thankful for the Great Physician for His healing work in my body. I’m praying for others who are still sick. I personally know about 20 of them with COVID in Northeast Indiana right now.

Today, I received a call from the State Health Department informing me that I was exposed to someone who has since tested positive for COVID-19. They told me my date of exposure and I quickly realized the truth: I wasn’t exposed to them, they were exposed to me.

I have cold hard evidence that my COVID case has passed onto other people. So I’m processing out the guilt in my life again. I wrote about how I do that here.

The Scarlet Letter

The phrase “Scarlet Letter” comes from a classic Nathaniel Hawthorn book where an unmarried young woman gives birth to a baby in a very conservative Puritan colony. She is made to wear a dress with a scarlet “A” (representing her Adultery) anytime she is in public in order to shame her.

I feel like having COVID-19 is a little bit of a Scarlet Letter.

I remember the first time I stepped out into my backyard’s patio to get a little sunshine after “coming out” as a COVID-19 patient. I live in town, and my backyard has a direct line-of-sight to 6 different backyards. I looked around, and saw nobody. Reality was I had only been inside for about 12 hours, but it felt like 12 days.

I Heard Some Lies

As I looked around at empty backyards around me I started hearing some lies.

“They’re all scared of you.”

“Your neighbors are so scared of your disease, they are all staying indoors just because you walked out your back patio. You probably should just go back inside and hide. And the next time you want to go outside, you had better yell out and announce yourself, ‘Unclean! Unclean!'”

Had I allowed that self-talk to continue, I’d probably feel like I needed to move away!

That was a lie. Total lies. I have some amazing neighbors and most all of them have had a conversation with me since then – at least from afar – showing their compassion. I love my neighbors and I believe they love me too.

But at that moment, it didn’t feel like. It felt like rejection, simply because they weren’t outside at that exact moment. It was all in my head, and I listened to a lie.

This is a Common Issue

I am not unique nor am I crazy. I have heard from two other COVID patients who echoed this feeling of going outside with a Scarlet Letter. I believe this is a common problem with COVID patients, so I wanted to write about it. One individual does not want anyone to know they have COVID-19 because they feel they’ll be feared the rest of their life; permanently labeled as “unclean.” That’s crossed my mind as well — I am not going to leave my house until I am confident I cannot spread COVID-19, but will others be concerned to come too close to me?

I can’t do anything about what other people think or feel, but I can do something about the lies of rejection that come to my mind.

Anytime you’re listening to a lie, you need to reject the lie and replace it with Truth.

Reject the Lie

I am not rejected.

I am not unclean.

I am not unwanted.

I am not worthless.

Replace it With Truth

I am accepted (Romans 10:9-13).

I am clean (1 John 1:9).

I am desired, no matter how bad I’ve been. (John 17:24, Hosea 11:1,8).

I have a great deal of value. (Psalm 139:13-16, Romans 5:8, Matthew 10:31).

Need Help Rejecting the Lie?

Some people really struggle rejecting (or even recognizing) the lies they agree with. This will tangle you up and cause significant turmoil in your life. Jesus is the deliverer, and He can help you. My church has a great program to help with that called our “Deliverance Process.” It’s all free.

If you want to be freed from the lies you keep hearing in your self-talk, you can be!

Here is a website that explains the process and a few “You might want to consider this if…” statements. You can look at it there. And then click through to this website where you can begin your own spiritual steps to work through to your spiritual freedom.

It works!

If you have any questions about that process, I’d love to help you.

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COVID-19 is Terrible.

Still coughing. Still tired. Still mild symptoms. Energy comes and goes. Nausea and stomach aches come and go. I sniffed some roses sitting on our counter and today I THINK I smelled a hint of rose, but I might have imagined it. I think I am on the mend, but I know a young fellow COVID-ite who was on the mend for a week and then “bam” — he was in the hospital with trouble breathing. So I am trusting God that my symptoms just stay mild!

When I told a friend of mine how my symptoms were mostly mild, he responded, “Oh, so it’s not as bad as they hyped it up to be!”

If only it were that simple! COVID-19 is terrible!

Weird Symptoms

COVID-19, at least for me, came on with a MINOR cold. I thought nothing of it, and I walked around a few days potentially exposing others during that time. One friend has tested positive with a single symptom: loss of smell. The range of symptoms, at least to me, are just weird. Vomiting, diarrhea, toe-blisters, respiratory problems, rashes, eye pain or pink eye, fever, cough, loss of taste, loss of smell, and sore throat are some of the possible symptoms.

What does a toe-blister, nausea, and coughing have in common? Not much – except they’re all possible symptoms of the same virus. Bizarre!

Nobody Knows Much

Since this is a new disease, little is known.

Doctors spend years studying how this stuff works. Lives depend on them. They need to have answers.

Consider what it would feel like to ask your doctor a very simple question — a question that any doctor or even a nurse would be able to answer if it were any other disease — and the doctor just looks back at you and says, “Nobody knows yet.”

That’s a little unsettling when it happens to you, and it happened to me yesterday.

Sickness Aside, This Still Stinks.

I want to break this down to help others understand why COVID-19 is terrible, even with mild symptoms.

When my test came back positive, the health department called me. I had to remain in isolation for at least 10 days since the onset of symptoms, and I could come out after three days symptom free.

I had to back track everywhere I went up to two days before any symptoms arose. Anyone I encountered within 6 feet for more than 10 or 15 minutes should then enter into their own quarantine. Vacations, birthday parties, grad parties, and work have been missed because of this.

If one of them gets a positive test result, that expands the web of people who need to be quarantined. Quickly, my social and support network is diminishing. Anyone who tests positive has to go through this whole cycle themselves!

The moment my quarantine is over, my children’s 14 day quarantine begins. That means I may be allowed to go out, but not much because my children are preschoolers and need care — and nobody else can care for them since they’re quarantined.

So if I’m home sick 14 days, I’m home 28 days. That’s best case scenario… if anyone else in my family gets sick, it all moves back from there. I could be stuck in my home until August! Others — because of me — could still be in their homes by September or later!

So What Should I Do With All This “Stink”?

So far in this blog, I’ve pretty much just complained. I did this for two reasons. First, to help others understand what COVID folks may be feeling. Second, to make a point.

This blog is helpful in understanding our complaints and laments. Complaining can be spiritual!

A third of the Psalms is laments or complaints. This implies that God expects us to frequently experience pain and therefore frequently express our pain to him. God wants us to pour out our complaints to Him!

I pour out before him my complaint;

Before him I tell my trouble.

Psalms 142:2

My Prayer Today

Dear Jesus,

This sucks. But I still trust you.

Amen

Do you need to cry out to Jesus today? Go ahead. He can take it.

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Will God Heal Me From COVID-19?

Today, I feel a little worse. Overall, still mild. But today is the first day that breathing was a little difficult. Coughing is a little worse. More people around me are getting positive results from their COVID-19 tests. Many symptoms are mild, but that doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods yet. One with mild symptoms can spread the disease to another who may have serious conditions, and many lives could be affected and have to go through a quarantine period. That alone is enough reason to take precautions. Please, get your medical information from peer-reviewed doctors and scientists and not from memes and gossip. I was careful to not spread… but many lives are STILL now entirely on hold, quarantining or sick. This matters. 

A Bible Example

In the Book of Daniel, the Bible tells a story of a king in Babylon named Nebuchadnezzar. His friends called him Nebbie (not really, but I don’t want to keep checking the spelling of “Nebuchadnezzar” so just go with me on this). 

King Nebbie made a statue of himself and issued a law that everyone had to worship the image he had made – lest they be thrown into a blazing furnace. 

Three Jews who lived in Babylon had a big problem with that, obviously. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to worship the image. King Nebbie summoned them and gave them another chance to worship his image and made clear their incendiary alternative. 

I absolutely love the three amigos’ response: “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” 

The rest of the story is irrelevant to my point, but I’ll share it anyway – they were thrown into the blazing furnace, Jesus protected them and they survived — unharmed, and King Nebbie declared the greatness of the one True God. 

I love their steadfastness with their faith. I want to share that same passion. 

God Can Heal Me, But Whether or Not He Does is Irrelevant.

I think about this story when I’m in a hard time. 

Can God heal me? Can He just blink and my lungs be free and my body be ‘Rona-less? Can He wave his hand and remove all your cancer? Can He resolve that genetic condition with a twitch of His nose? Of course He can! 

But whether or not He does is entirely irrelevant to my devotion to Him. 

If my parents had given me a curfew I thought was unfair, I wouldn’t have disowned them. If my wife didn’t make me a sandwich, I wouldn’t get a divorce. (That reminds me, honey, if you’re reading this, I’d like a slice of provolone cheese next time). That’s just being a faithful son and a faithful husband! 

So why would a hard time . . . 

. . . like COVID-19 

(. . . or like losing your job)

(. . . or a relationship struggle)

. . . have any bearing upon my status as a son of a King? He’s still my God, my King, and my Father, in the good times and in the hard ones. I’ll remain faithful. Watch me. 

I hope to see you tomorrow morning at 9:30 or 11 a.m. for church online!

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The Feelings that Came With COVID-19

First of all, an update. I was diagnosed this week with COVID-19. My symptoms remain mild. I’m okay. My family has everything we need. The same cannot be said for others I know. This is a highly contagious sickness and symptoms do not always stay mild. There’s always a smart doctor with a second opinion on every issue, but I encourage everyone to please be careful to pay attention to the preponderance of peer-reviewed evidence of this new sickness in which doctors are reporting. Like this.

Let’s Talk About The Feelings

Feelings are a crazy thing. They are fact. But they are not necessarially true. A common example is a feeling of being alone. It’s a fact that you do feel alone . . . but that doesn’t mean you actually are. Especially for the Christian.

I say this because I’m about to get REAL. I’ve had some feelings the past few days. Some of them are completely irrational! I know that. But I’m opening up my heart today so you can understand what I’m going through. I’m sharing this in victory; I don’t need to work through these — I’ve worked through them!

Here are a few of the feelings I’ve had to deal with.

Fear

I remember when my wife and I found out we were pregnant. In one day, having a child went from an idea to a reality. It sunk in. It became real.

The same thing happened when I got tested for COVID-19 and then again when I was told that the test came back positive. It was like a wake up call. “Whoa – I’m actually about to do this” followed by a punch in the gut, “Ugh. I have COVID-19.”

Thoughts flooded my mind. Will I die? Will others die? Who will be hospitalized because of this? What will happen? ** Panic, panic, panic. **

God does not give me fear. The Spirit of fear that began to take hold of my life is demonic.

Sidebar rant: Taking wise precaution is not the same as fear. I take my medicine, wear a seatbelt, and check the batteries in my smoke detector because I trust what experts have suggested is a wise precaution. Avoiding medical attention or abstaining from a COVID-19 test is not “faith.” It’s a rejection of wisdom; a rejection of what God has provided. People who say otherwise are possibly dealing with their own fear of losing control.

I had to take my fear to Jesus.

Guilt

After my positive test results, the department of health did a fantastic job helping me track down who may have been exposed by me. I had to go back to the first day my symptoms arose, and then back-track two days before that. Anyone I had close contact with (within 6 feet for 10 minutes or more) needed to be quarantined. I was very thorough.

Someone’s dream vacation was possibly ruined.

Someone else may lose work which affects the support staff they employ.

Someone else now is quarantined and can’t attend their grandchild’s birthday party.

All because of me.

That’s a terrible feeling. It will get worse if any of these people I’ve exposed get severely sick.

Now some people think, “Nobody can tell us what I can or cannot do! We don’t need to quarantine!” Okay, I’m not going to try to change your mind. But you need to understand that not everyone feels that way, some people choose to listen to the advice of their doctors. Just like secondhand smoke, this has very real and very damaging effects on people around us.

God does not give me guilt. I had to take my guilt to Jesus.

Anger

The guilt led to anger.

Masks suck.

I hate wearing a mask. It’s so uncomfortable. It’s so hot. It’s so bothersome. It’s downright miserable. But I did it very frequently anyway in order to stop any possible spread to others.

I was careful around others. Why weren’t others careful around me?

That made me feel a little hurt, betrayed, and angry.

God calls Christians to a life of irrational forgiveness. So I can’t stay angry. I had to take my anger to God.

Hopelessness

This one surprised me. I’m a pretty optimistic guy.

The morning after my COVID-19 result, I went to go get dressed and the thought flashed through my mind, “Why bother? What’s the use getting dressed today? Your life is over.”

For me at least, this one was easy to realize as a lie and take to Jesus. COVID-19 will not define my life. I had to take my hopelessness to Jesus.

Taking it to Jesus

God is at work in my life.

So is the devil! You know he’s lying when he’s talking.

Dealing with these emotions was a matter of rejecting the lie and replacing it with Truth. This is a principle found in scripture and explained in detail in this book by Carlos Whitaker.

Can I show you how I did it?

Reject the Lie. Replace it with Truth.

Fear. God has not given me a spirit of Fear. I reject fear. Perfect love drives out all fear, so I accept the Love of the Father. He will take care of me one way or another.

Guilt. Through Christ, there is now no condemnation. I reject the feelings of guilt and condemnation and acknowledge that they are from the enemy. I replace this guilt and condemnation with God’s love and acceptance of me. His acceptance of me is enough. I accept wisdom from God which allows me to still be cautious.

Anger. The harsh feelings I was feeling were not from God. I reject them and acknowledge them as a trick of the enemy to get my focus off of the main thing: SHARING HIS LOVE. I choose to forgive any careless organizations or individuals who had a part in spreading this sickness to me. I replace my anger with the Love of the Father, which includes loving others.

Hopelessness. My life has no use? What a bunch of cow manure. I was made in the image of God. I was created as God’s masterpiece to do good things! I need to step into that mission! I replace hopelessness with the mission and love of my Father.

Church

Be in church this weekend! I’d love for you to join me at mine this weekend at 9:30 or 11 a.m. online. For obvious reasons, I won’t be on the camera, but I’ll be there on chat! Online church at New Hope is here.

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I Have COVID-19.

Hi. My name is Adam Diehl, I am a child of God, and I have tested positive for COVID-19.

My symptoms started like a very minor cold. I didn’t think anything of it. I often get a cold each June. One evening I got the chills which was slightly concerning, but the next morning I felt pretty much fine, so just figured I was tired.

But when I lost my sense of smell and taste, that’s when I knew I needed to call my doctor. He recommended a test, and it came back positive.

Right now, physically, I feel a little tired sometimes. I have a cough and a few other symptoms. I’m quarantined and recovering with my family. We have everything we need. I’m not needing hospitalization. Emotionally, I’ve had a lot of them over the past 48 hours: anger, hopelessness, fear, and guilt are a few that I’ve had to surrender to Jesus. I plan to write about each of them in this blog.

WHERE IS YOUR GOD NOW?

You know, God promises a lot of things. He promises that he has good plans for me. He also promises that “in this world you will have trouble.” So today, I’ve got some health trouble — but that doesn’t mean God went anywhere. In fact, he’s fulfilling a promise! Christians will have trouble.

But I’m not alone. God is with me. Other Christians are with me.

My God is able to deliver me from this calamity, but even if he doesn’t, He is still my God, He is still in charge, and I will serve Him the rest of my life.

He is a faithful God, even in the hard times. I will serve him now in the hard times. Watch me.

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Some Thoughts on “No.”

No. It’s a complete sentence. No can be hard to hear and hard to say.

On Hearing “No”
When we invite or ask someone something and hear a “no” in response – it bothers some of us. It’s unhealthy when it bothers us because we started judging. We shouldn’t judge when people give what seems like ridiculous reasons for not being able to be involved in “whatever.” Yeah, some people are lazy. Yeah, in the right relationship, some people need challenged to put on big boy pants. But we all recharge and get drained differently, and we all have our own limits. So give mercy because you’ll need it soon enough. When we hear “no” – we should never assume we understand the other person’s situation.

On Saying “No”
When we are saying “no” to someone, we must avoid the temptation to place our hearer in the position of our judge. I think we do this a lot – let me explain.

For example, when I say to you, “I can’t be involved in your Save The Whales campaign because I have to go grocery shopping.” This solution makes you think I’m a jerk because I don’t care about the thing you care about. When I start to defend myself it kinda pushes you to make a judgement call about whether or not my commitment is unreasonable according to YOUR priorities. But you’re not the one saying yes or no. It’s me. And you have no idea how stressed its been in my house the past week and how much money we’ve been wasting by eating out for the past four days (and can’t afford it) and how much additional stress it will put on me to get home late tonight for the 27th day in a row – you’re just not in the seat to determine how I play out my priorities. So a “No, I can’t, I have other plans. Sorry” would be sufficient. We shouldn’t put ourselves on a judgement seat.

But we shouldn’t be silent either. That just communicates rudeness. We sometimes choose silence when we are asked to do something because we don’t want to deal with explaining ourselves, being judged, or possible confrontation that follows.… But we are usually only put in that place of judgment when we say “No, because…” And place ourselves in the judgment seat. If you are remaining silent to a request of your time, talent, or treasure because you want to avoid a problem or confrontation, chances are you are probably creating conflict. For example, some people ignore RSVPs with the motivation to avoid saying no, but that often just leads to the host having to follow through and contact them directly to confirm!

Just say no – it is a complete sentence.

(I make some huge generalizations here – and there are a million situations where “No” is absolutely not sufficient. (If your boss asks you to work on something, simply a “No” is definitely not recommended!). I imagine these thoughts are appropriate for most social situations, though. These comments are meant to be encouragement to those feeling rejected by “No’s,” and tips that I’ve learned for those who fret over saying it. If you never feel like you’re in one of those positions, this post probably doesn’t apply to your personality – but thanks for reading!).

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Stop Being Yourself.

Let me first start by saying there are many times that “just be yourself” is the best advice. For example – going on a date or a job interview. In these situations, who you are is important for the other person to know right at the very beginning.

But “just being yourself” is not an excuse either. Here’s what I mean.

I’m selfish. I always have been. I came out of my momma crying for a blanket and some milk. That’s part of who I am. Does that give me freedom to be rude to you for the sake of “just being myself”? Of course not.

Our world today is extremely individualistic. We’re told at a very young age that we can be or do anything if we just put our mind to it. I remember PBS programs as a child encouraging me to “Be original” and to think for myself. I don’t have qualms with that.

But that same thought taken to the extreme leads to the increasingly common thought, “I’m proud of who I am, and I won’t change for anybody.” A popular song by Imagine Dragons celebrates this individuality with the hook, “I’m never changing who I am!”

Seriously? What about if you’re a slob, a jerk, shy to the point of avoiding any human interaction, overbearing, hurtful, abusive, or just plain rude? You’re happy with that? You’re proud of who you are and are unwilling to change for anybody?

It can be really difficult to see this in ourselves. For example, as an extrovert, I am inclined to rudely dominate conversations and be a little obnoxious. I can’t help that I’m an extrovert, but I can control my behaviors. So although I’ll never change that I’m an extrovert, I DO want to change my level of obnoxiousness! I shouldn’t use my extroverted temperament (who I am) as an excuse to be offensive to others.

Let’s have enough humility to recognize that we are all incomplete and be open to the positive influences of those around us (for the Christian, those influences may come from the Holy Spirit). We are who we are – but we can always be a better “us.”

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Poopy Pastors, Prophets, and Preachers. Yes, I wrote “Poopy.”

Way back in the Bible days, God wanted to tell His people, “Hey people, your sin is incredibly repulsive to me.”

So how does God do it? He grabs Ezekiel and says, “Hey Zeke, go make some bread, but heat it by lighting human poop on fire.” Understandably, Ezekiel objected and said, “Are you kidding? I’m Jewish and that’s not kosher!”

God relented and said, “Fine then. Don’t heat your bread with human feces. Use cow crap instead.”

No joke. Open up your bible and read it for yourself – Ezekiel 4:9-17. (Disturbingly, this is also the scripture the ingredients for modern “Ezekiel Bread” comes from – available at your local grocery store).

Okay so here’s my application . . .

Who are the prophets we want to hear from today? I think we tend to gravitate towards fashionable, hip, funny, and inspiring pastors, prophets, and preachers. Like – Francis Chan. He’s fashionable, hip, funny, and inspiring. I’m not knocking on that. Francis Chan is AWESOME! But he’s not awesome because he’s the only blue-jean wearing bald Asian that I know – he’s awesome because he speaks whatever God is telling him and hits the nail on the head. THAT’S what makes him awesome (although I doubt that’s what sells his books and fills up his venues, by no fault of his own).

Whatever. This isn’t about Francis Chan. This is about you. And me.

If I was God, I would ONLY pick hip and cool people like Francis Chan to be my prophet. I think people would listen to him better. But that’s not what God did – he picked a stinky man to cook over a feces fire to speak to his people.

If God did that today – would you listen? Seriously – how would you feel if a dirty, stinky man came to your house cooking a cheeseburger over a hot fire of crap? –And then told you that God wanted you to know something? Would you want to tell him to shut up? You’d probably call the police.

The crappy fire thing is pretty extreme (so is sin, that was the point). But what I’m trying to share is that sometimes we have to seek out God’s voice. It’s to God’s glory to HIDE from us. It’s our glory to SEEK him. And sometimes that means listening in unlikely places or sources – like poopy pastors, prophets, and preachers.

I wrote more about God HIDING from us 5 years ago here).

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What To Do When You’re Frustrated.

Why do we get frustrated?

I think its because our expectations aren’t being met. That’s all frustrations are — unmet expectations. We never call it that – but if you’re frustrated — somewhere in the situation is an expectation that’s not being met.

Whether we didn’t close a deal, had a waitress bring the wrong food, or having a clash with some family member — unmet expectations are FRUSTRATING!

It’s ESPECIALLY FRUSTRATING when our expectations are not being met by things that are out of our control. Like let’s say your crazy boss is ruining your life. You can’t change your crazy boss; you have no control over him! But we DO have control over how we handle our unmet expectations.

Here’s four options.

1) Cling to your expectations.
Sometimes our expectations are hills worth dying on. Sometimes its noble.

But it should never be the only choice. If we only cling to our expectations, we will STAY frustrated and never get beyond it. That’s not just frustration — that’s the making for a grudge! Grudges are stupid, and can often be avoided if someone just clarified their expectations.

2) Clarify your expectations
This step comes easiest when our attitude is focused on high assertion and high relationship.

For example… my wife and I might argue about the position of the window. I want it open. She wants it closed. If we are only considering these two opposing positions we’ll never resolve it. But it takes two to argue. With a high level of assertion and relationship, I might say, “Sweetie, I want the window open because I’m hot.” And then she might say back to me, “Oh my wonderful and amazing hunk of a man, I would prefer the window closed because I have allergies.” (We really do speak like that when we’re fighting… okay not really). Once our interests are discussed rather than our positions, the solution seems simple: Close the window and turn on the A/C!

But sometimes we’re in a situation where our expectations aren’t necessarily great expectations; in these cases, it might be better to modify what we’re thinking.

3) Modify your expectations
Expectations can be reasonable AND unrealistic at the same time.

Generally speaking, its reasonable but unrealistic to expect people to be passionate about the things you’re passionate about. God put that passion in your heart; that doesn’t mean its everyone else’s mission. For specific example, it is reasonable to expect everyone else to give towards the charity that you love so much, but unrealistic.

4) Abandon your expectations
I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with people that are stressed out about a temporary problem. Especially at night. It’ll be better in the morning, folks!

Often I need to abandon my expectations temporarily. If there’s nothing I can do about it today, I’m not doing anybody any favors if I keep it bottled up inside of me. I have to abandon it (and forget it!) until I’m able to actually clarify my expectation.

Other times, my unmet expectations aren’t that big of deals. Or they are completely outside my control and I can’t do anything about it. In these cases, I have to abandon my unmet expectations to my God. Turning it over to him and giving Jesus control is a great option.

I think this is what the Apostle Paul did when there was a jerk named Alexander the Coppersmith who really screwed Paul over somehow. Certainly Paul was frustrated, but he abandoned his unmet expecations to the lord when he wrote, “the Lord will repay him according to his deeds” (2 Timothy 4:14).

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Why Old People Think God is Faithful.

Faithful.

This adjective is defined as “loyal, constant, and steadfast.”

By its very definition, it requires passing time to see. Without some experience of the valleys, we really have no idea if an employee, spouse, or friend is actually loyal, constant, or steadfast. It requires the passing of time.

We certainly can look at the past for examples. Israelites are taught to remember what God had brought them through. To this day, they practice the Passover Feast remembering how God brought his people out of Egypt (whilst slaves for multiple generations), provided for them in the wilderness (whilst hot, thirsty, and hungry for a generation), and led them to the promised land. The idea is we should remember God’s faithfulness across multiple generations because when you’re in the middle of the trial it certainly doesn’t seem like God is being faithful…. BUT HE WAS THEN AND HE IS NOW.

Here’s what I’m getting at – because faithfulness requires time and experience in the valleys, it can often be difficult to see a faithful God while in the valley. In other words, just because something in your life totally sucks eggs it doesn’t mean God stopped being faithful! It just might be evidence that he is smack dab in the MIDDLE of being faithful.

Again, for someone to be considered faithful, they must have experience in the valleys. So when Christians say that we serve a faithful God, we’re confessing our confidence in future low moments of our life.

So if faithfulness requires time, who better to hear from than an old dude who had plenty of time to see God let him down? I met an old retired preacher at a nursing home a few years before he passed away who had this to say: “People always say that God never leaves us and never forsakes us. That’s in the Bible, and I always heard it. And I’ve been through a lot in my life and it’s about over, and you know what? — it’s true. He never left me and He never forsook me. God’s been faithful. He’s been so faithful.”

Last week I visited another older man who said the same thing.

Why do old people think that God is faithful? Because they’ve seen it.

I’ll leave you with these song lyrics which sparked this line of thought. From Jonas Myrin and Matt Redman:

And on that day when my strength is failing;
The end draws near and my time has come;
Still my sould will sing Your praise unending
Ten thousand years and then forevermore.