Author: Zlatko Sebesta

Spinning our of control

Nobody could have predicted 18 months ago that we would be where are today. That’s just the nature of human knowledge – we cannot see into the future. My generation has had it relatively easy – no major world war, no world-wide pandemic, growing wealth, fairly comfortable lives. To some degree we’ve heard or experienced the odd localized case of illness, war, terrorism, and economic issues that threatened to impact our world, but none great enough to make us stop and reconsider our way of life. I guess we just took our privileges for granted.

It is therefore no wonder that COVID-19 has hit us hard, stopping all of us in our tracks. It often felt during this past year as if the world, our world, is spinning out of control. And just as we started thinking numbers are decreasing, with some countries seemingly getting on top of this thing, the miraculous quick development and availability of vaccines, we are all shocked to watch in horror how this virus and its impact is spinning out of control in India. It is a stark reminder that this thing is not over yet. As the expression goes: It ain’t over ’till it’s over.

As we continue to look for answers, pray for protection and ask question about why this is happening, it is hard to come up with answers for those who are really suffering. Being in lock-down in our relatively safe environment is no match for what others in the world of illness, death, suffering, hunger and yearning for peace and safety are experiencing.

Some Bible authors also ask hard questions. People like Job who suffered so much loss without knowing why it hit him “out of nowhere”. Some of the Psalmists also questioned God’s care, wondering about his apparent absence when they needed Him (“Why, O LORD, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” – Ps 10:1). But almost in every single case we also see these people turning TO God, rather than turning away from Him, as seen in the same psalm (10:16): “The LORD is king forever and ever”.  This confession is based on the fact that they knew God is in control, even if and when it seems to be different in the short-term.

I am praying that, one day in the future, we’ll look back at how God used this history-making pandemic and its impact around the world to confirm what we already know and confess: Our God is in control!

Yours in the Lord’s service

Gerhard

Psalm 115:3 “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.”

Old dogs and new tricks!

I’d like to claim for myself the English expression “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”, meaning: the older we get the harder it is to learn new things. This is true in many areas of life. Just think about trying to teach your granny to use the latest smart phone! And, I must admit, the world of technology around us develops so fast that it is hard to keep up. For an old dog like me, I think I may have just decided to let the younger generation get on with it, although I surprised myself during this lock-down era by learning to do worship services online, Zooming around on Sundays, Bible studies and meetings. Maybe old dogs can still do it…?

It made me think of what Jesus experienced during his earthly ministry. His message was new, refreshing, and different. He reached out to the poor, sick and lowly people, telling his disciples that the kingdom of God belongs to “children” who are willing to receive God’s love in child-like faith. Ordinary people loved Jesus’ teaching, but the learned “old dogs” of Judaism hated Him.

The biggest challenge He faced was trying to convince these “old dogs” that He was the Messiah, God’s Son, who came to die and be raised up in order to offer salvation to anyone in the world who believes in Him. They just could not get beyond their old dog understanding of a Jewish king on a throne in Jerusalem that would bless only Israel. And what Jesus came to do is precisely what we are celebrating this month during Easter. God’s Son, Jesus Christ, is the Saviour of the world, and He brought about salvation in a way that no-one could have predicted.

Easter is a good reminder of the basis of our faith, summarized by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 – “I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…”

Let’s celebrate our Saviour and our salvation!