In our recent Prayer and Perspectives series, dealing with covid19 and the multiple challenges surrounding it, we’ve talked a lot about the need for truth and wisdom. We’ve discussed the fact that God doesn’t give us a spirit of fear but of Power and Love and a clear sound mind. We’ve talked about the need for an ongoing intimate relationship with Him…and the need to listen and hear. But the truth of the matter is, many people, including many Christians, do not sense the presence and power of God in their lives right now. And many have no clear sense of God’s direction for their lives in this moment. As we approach Pentecost (May 31 this year), it’s possibly more important than at any time in most of our lives to look and remember the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the Pentecost immediately following Jesus’ resurrection. As promised, the Holy Spirit, the very Presence of God, came to empower and guide those first Jesus followers. And that same Holy Spirit is available now to fill and guide and empower us. To speak to us and through us. To give us power and wisdom here and now, in this moment. If we’re willing to receive and welcome that! With so many conflicting voices competing right now for our attention and allegiance, and so many questions unanswered by those we expect to have answers, maybe we have a real practical need to take a hard look again at what it means to welcome the wisdom and power and Presence of God into our lives.

The church hasn't been shut down by COVID 19 restrictions. The church has been deployed. Forced to become creative and engaged in new ways, outside the walls of its buildings and programs. What can we in the so-called Christian west learn in this moment from our brothers and sisters who've been operating this way for years? For decades or more?

“I know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purposes…” Nice sentiment. Right? But what about a global pandemic. Can God turn that to good? Really? Yes! How? Through us. And in us. Right where we are. Trusting Him. And doing what we’ve been prepared to do and being who we’ve been prepared to be all along. For today. For this moment. It’s time.

Health care workers are overloaded. Help lines and websites are jammed. Major nodes of the US internet system have seen so much traffic that they’ve locked up or crashed, multiple times in the last couple weeks. The twelfth chapter of Romans describes the gifts that the Spirit of God pours out to believers, equipping them for life and service in the real world. “The stuff” of New Testament Spirit empowered faith in the streets. Practical gifts. Like giving. And leadership. And various kinds of healings. That’s what is says. Gifts of Healings. Plural and plural! And the world around us right now, right where we are, is in desperate need of all kinds of healings. If we have the Spirit of God, we can call on those gifts and get really busy right now. Being healers. And Raising Up Healers, prepared for such a time as this.

Terrifying predictions. Panic inducing potential scenarios. Questions about what lies ahead for our future and that of our children. The factors combine to create a culture of fear. A paralyzing fear and a grief over things that haven’t even happened yet…and may never happen. Sort of a grief-by-faith dynamic. Grieving ahead of time and creating a feedback loop in anticipation of disaster that hasn’t occurred. But we can turn faith in another direction. Faith in a certainty! The certainty of God and His Word. And in that way, we can shift the atmosphere away from bondage and toward a real Freedom from fear and grief by faith.

The God of the bible is the God of our here and now! He is not an idea, or an opinion, or the product of weak wishful thinking in times of crisis. He is the God Who Is There! The God Who sees and hears and answers and promises…and acts! He is not a man, that He should lie. We can trust what He says, and as a result we can move beyond fear to hope and praying Outrageous Prayers of Expectation and Faith!

How do we see the world? What do we do with “the facts”? How do we set priorities? And policy? Especially now! How do our leaders do so? What is the guiding grid for it all? The only truly reliable view of the world is the one that flows from God’s heart and His Word. And far from being wishful thinking or banal platitudes, it gives an incredibly detailed, robust and practical guide for life in the here and now…and for hope and a future.

Regardless of what the headlines say or what's going on in our lives and communities right now, we can all still care and reach out in some way. And we can all have a part in creating an Atmosphere of Kindness.

What is God doing right now? What is He calling us to do in this moment? And how has He prepared and equipped us to engage for the Kingdom today? To deal with some of the real threats behind COVID 19. We have masks and gloves and lysol wipes and such for a trip to grocery store or the gas station. But some of those items are even in short supply at times. Right? Well God has a class of supernatural personal protective equipment available freely to all of us. And…there’s no shortage. No wait. No shipping and handling charge. We can suit up and go…in the Spirit. And love and serve and engage from right where we are. So buckle up. Right now, this is what STREET FAITH is really about!

Today, in “Young People and Covid 19 Anxiety,” we will be praying and talking through talking and sowing peace and hope and healing right where we are with our kids. And our teens. And our young adults. And their friends and our young friends. They need our attention right now. We need to redeem this time because they need our time. Now. They need peace…and hope…and real answers. Not a shallow form of impotent so-called godliness. But something different and real. With power. And we’d better be there for them. Because when…not if but when…they get that peace and hope and those answers and catch fire…they’ll light up the world like this planet has never seen before. Remember? No fear! Only Power and Love and a Sound Mind! So let’s be there…for the kids…and anyone else God puts in our path. And let’s SHINE. It’s time!