I am still trying to figure out where we’re at. Now, I am pretty good with maps and know where we are geographically. It would be at 42 27 38 and 83 14 13. For those that are familiar with the spacing of the numbers you know and understand the numbers are latitude and longitude respectively with degrees, minutes and seconds. If those numbers are then plugged into any coordinate program you can pull up online, it will give you South Lyon. If you want to go further down that rabbit hole, a solar calculator for today, Friday, May 15th, gives you an apparent sunrise of 6:45 am for today and 8:10 pm for the sunset at those coordinates. (Apparent because of the refractive nature of the earth.) And now I probably have some of you thinking I really am lost.
The lost I am referring to, is in figuring out where we are with the color coded phase chart that we have for the reopening of Michigan. On one hand it appears we are still in the section “Stay Home, Stay Safe” with remote working which puts us in Phase 2 or the red box. But then again Phase 3 or the orange box allows construction and real estate to start back up, which it has. Both of them have “no gatherings,” so coming back together is still out at the moment. When we get to Phase 4 or the yellow box, we are allowed to have small gatherings, though it doesn’t actually define small.
All of this can be a little frustrating at times. The restrictions placed on us and the staying at home can be very frustrating, especially for those who like to go and do. Believe it or not, it has been less than two months we have had to deal with all of this. What if you had to deal with this for three years? That would put us in the same timeframe where Jesus dealt with some frustrations of His own.
I remember first reading this verse that follows Luke’s account of Jesus being tempted. It is verse 13 of Luke chapter 4 and states, “When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left Him until a more opportune time.” What!? Satan didn’t leave Jesus permanently?! No, for the three years of Jesus’ ministry Satan was always around looking for an opportunity to pounce on Jesus, to get Him to sin, to go against God. Three years Jesus had to deal with these temptations coming at Him. What these temptations were we don’t know, but most likely of the same nature that we read about in the first 12 verses of chapter 4.
So, we are continuing to deal with our current situation. The frustration of not knowing what phase we are in. Not knowing when we will be able to go back to work. Not knowing when we can have people over for dinner again. Not knowing when sports and other activities will resume. Not knowing when we will be back at the building for services, classes, the JOY Group or other activities. In all of the not knowing where we are, there is one thing we do know. We are children squarely located in the family of God. I John 2:12 “I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.” Now, those are coordinates that can make us feel peacefully grounded wherever we are.
Happy where I am located,
Randy
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