Simply Stephanie

Today I pulled out my planner for the first time since COVID-19 abruptly interrupted all of our lives.  As I turned its pages, I drew line after line through what I thought would be the events of my days for the next couple of months.  I'm not going to pretend there was no disappointment.  Besides the Good Friday holiday break, the entire calendar has a line through it!  

I keep hearing about the things we will all do "once this is over,"  but I can't help thinking that we really don't know when it will be over and we can't pretend that June through August won't be affected by what happens March through May.  Even though deep down we all know that life is uncertain, this year has shown us that those words are not just a catchy phrase.  So many things we typically take for granted are now completely out of our control.  

My paternal grandmother, who asked to be affectionately called "Granny" after my first child was born, had a favorite song that she requested frequently.  If you knew her, you can probably quickly and accurately guess the title.  Granny passed away in 2012, but every time I'm at the piano playing this gospel hymn, I understand a little more why it was one of her favorites.  

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name.

When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant his blood, support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.

On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand!
All other ground is sinking sand.

As we reluctantly put a line through our best laid plans, there is one event for which we should be daily preparing, and it can be found in the fourth stanza:

When he shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in Him be found!
Dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.

On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand!
All other ground is sinking sand.

[My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less - Edward Mote (1834)]

In relation to our current economic and health crisis, none of us really knows what will happen.  We can't be sure who all will end up unemployed or ill, or whether it will end in two weeks or six months.  But one thing we know for certain is that God is in control, and if our lives are planted firmly upon Him, we will stand.  

Yes, my planner looks a lot different today than it did two weeks ago, but God is unchanged, and I can be sure, He is working all this for my good.