And how to handle it.
It took me a while to find the correct word to describe what we’ve all experienced in 2020. These were some of the other titles I considered:
2020: The Year of Trauma
The 2020 Revolution
2020: Health, Finances, Mental Illness, and Racial Injustice
The Year That Feels Like 10 Years
The Year of Uncertainty
Just to recap all that's happened the first 6 months of 2020:
Australian Bushfires
Kobe Bryant's Death at 41
Global Health Pandemic
Over 400K global COVID-19 deaths
Over 114K American COVID-19 deaths
21 million Americans unemployed (13.3%)
4-month stay-at-home quarantine order (California)
Murder Hornets (?)
Ahmaud Abery
Breonna Taylor
George Floyd
National/International protests against racism
Protests against police brutality and for police defunding
And a Presidential Election to come
Reading this again gives me chills and a level of discomfort. It's been an overwhelming year of deaths, national trauma, and racial trauma within the black community. This year has been ROUGH. With so much uncertainty around the corner, what could be next?
The bible shares some insight that can help build resilience within our souls:
[The righteous] will have no fear of bad news;
Their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord. (Ps 112:7)
Let's break this down but backwards:
Trusting in God builds a steadfast (or firm) heart.
A steadfast heart does not fear bad news.
The righteous have steadfast hearts.
There is something to learn about building a heart that can endure the breaking news of 2020 or any other year. God knows there is more news to come (we’re only ½ way there!). But if there is a skill that is most needed right now, it is to create a heart that is firm in the middle of chaos. And a steadfast heart begins with our theology of God. Is he good? Is he kind? Does he have plans to make us prosper...even in a pandemic? Has he promised to be with you? Has that promise changed? Is he a stakeholder in your life?
Creating a steadfast heart isn’t accomplished in one season... it's accomplished across many seasons of learning to trust God over our situations. It doesn't mean we don't do anything; it means that his words and his confidence fuel us to keep going, even when it’s really, really hard.
There is so much more to say but maybe this is where this should end. Want to carry a lighter heart even in the middle of bad news? Begin with learning to trust God again - even through 2020.
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