Devotional

1. With You Always

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Matthew 28:20b

When I was young Christians were very into apocalypse movies. One Friday evening my youth group watched a movie about the rapture and I was scared out of my mind. This movie was terrifying and I thought “wait, I’m supposed to be excited about the end of the world? No thank you.”

Today, it can easily feel like the end of the world. Covid-19 is scary and big and something the vast majority of us have never seen or dealt with before. It can be easy to slip into fear over faith.

But Jesus told us that He would be with us always. This very last verse from Matthew is Jesus’ words to his beloved disciples and is part of the Great Commission. And even as He stood in their midst, some of his own friends doubted. But he encouraged them to go and make disciples of all nations and that He would never leave them. The same is true for us here and now.

While Covid-19 is not going to end civilization, it certainly will change it. And during this unknown and concerning time, lots of people are going to cling to things that have no meaning (like 25 packages of Costco toilet paper). But as believers, we get to cling to a hope for the future (Jeremiah 29:11). Christ has never abandoned us, and he’s not going to start now.

No matter the fear you are facing, Christ will draw near. I can promise you that because He said that He would. He told us that He will be with us always, and you can count on that.

Prayer: Father, the hysteria and fear is spreading around the world, and yet I know that you are in control. Help me to remember the promises that Jesus gave his disciples, and that we can trust what you have told us to be true. Amen.

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