Faith in a Time of Pandemic – God is Our Dwelling Place

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God, Our Dwelling Place
(7/3)
God, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. (Psalm 90:1; read the entire

Psalm 90.)

Psalm 90 contrasts the eternity of God and the fragility of human life. God is everlasting, constantly moving through the universe, spirited, free, and eternal without beginning and end. Alive, dynamic, and yet faithful through every change. In contrast, even the most powerful of us is still mortal.

Like sands in an hourglass, so goes the soap opera, are the days of our lives.
We need both change and we also need eternity. We need fidelity through all the changes of life. Like a good parent, God holds us in the palm of God’s hand. God is the life that supports and challenges us. We may fade but God’s love endures forever.

These days, we can affirm a commercial that says “life comes at you fast,” given the changes we have had to endure over the past few months. Some of the changes have been devastating. Yet, change is often good. A life without change is a life of boredom in which we are destined to repeat our days over and over again, as described in the comedic movie, “Groundhog Day.”

We need both eternity and time, dependability and creativity, tradition and novelty, but through every change God is with us, “dwelling place in all generations.”
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In every change, let me trust your faithfulness and love. Set my heart on a high place that I might survey the changes of life with equanimity, seeing the pattern of your presence in my life and the world. Amen.

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Bruce Epperly is a pastor, professor, and author of over 50 books including the recently released HOPE IN A TIME OF PANDEMIC and GOD ONLINE: A MYSTIC’S GUIDE TO THE INTERNET.