April 26: My Grace is Sufficient for You

Is it over yet? The virus, I mean. It’s been 40 days and nights of Shelter in Place (March 17-April 26). Isn't that the magic number in the Bible? Or is it going to be 40 years instead? Will this be like Jesus in the desert or the Israelites in the wilderness?  

Luke 4:2-4

For forty days He was tempted by the devil.

He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He was hungry. 

The devil said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.”

Weakened and exhausted by long abstinence from food, the temptation to supply his wants by this easy means at once was great. How is this long abstinence of the life we knew before the virus tempting me to satisfy my needs the easy way? Jesus could have used his powers for his own advantage but did not. Jesus was faint and weary but he had such a deep love for us that he did not give in but submitted himself to the Father.

For me there is plenty of food; it’s just that shopping is not easy right now. I find it frustrating to go to the store to learn that they are closed because their hours changed once again. Or that the long lines outside make me turn around and go home empty-handed. When I forget my mask and gloves, I make another trip to go back home and get them or if the items I want are not on the shelf it means another trip tomorrow. That’s enough for me to say forget it and throw in the towel and not want to cook at all. Jesus never took the easy way. What am I complaining about? At least I have a car and I can afford groceries and a refrigerator to store them. I want this exercise to teach me the patience I need and to remember that if it’s not easy for me, how hard it must be for those with physical disabilities. I want this to teach me to reach out to others and make it a bit easier for them. God, help me to see beyond my own needs. 

Exodus 34:28

So Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights

without eating bread or drinking water.

He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.

The patience and faith of the people was tested by this second, long delay. This time, they stood the test. The near presence of God sustained Moses and made food unnecessary. Will we be strengthened by this long delay of normalcy? Will God's presence be enough for us and make everything else unnecessary?

What have I deemed essential that really isn't at all? Being with others is high on my list. I enjoy family and friends and like to plan a busy calendar. It's healthy, right? It is, but not at the expense of my first love and relationship with God. Has my time in His Word been shoved aside so I can make room for the "to do" list? Yes, more times than I'd like to admit. I know that God is enough but I want to believe it and really practice it. Am I a Mary or a Martha? I think I know but I want to be sustained in God's nearness, in his presence and his love. Instead of trying to catch up because I skipped a few days of my reading the Bible-in-a-year passages, I want to do it daily so it fortifies me each day instead of sporadically. I know my body wouldn't be happy if I fed it every once in a while. Let me hear the growling in my stomach for God's Word. Let me hunger for more.

The number 40 shows up often in the Bible. Some scholars understand it to be the number of “probation” or “trial,” since it deals with judgment or testing. Here are some examples of the Bible’s use of the number 40 with the theme of testing or judgment:

Genesis 7:12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. 

God destroyed the earth with water, He caused it to rain 40 days and 40 nights.

Acts 7:30 After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.

After Moses killed the Egyptian, he fled to Midian, where he spent 40 years in the desert tending flocks. 

Deuteronomy 9:18 Then once again I fell prostrate before the LORD for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all the sin you had committed, doing what was evil in the LORD's sight and so arousing his anger.

Deuteronomy 9:25 I lay prostrate before the LORD those forty days and forty nights because the LORD had said he would destroy you.

Moses interceded on Israel’s behalf for 40 days and 40 nights.  

Numbers 13:25 At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land.

The Israelite spies took 40 days to spy out Canaan. 

Deuteronomy 8:2-5 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.

The Israelites wandered for 40 years .

Judges 13:1 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.

Before Samson’s deliverance, Israel served the Philistines for 40 years.

Samuel 17:16 For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.

Goliath taunted Saul’s army for 40 days before David arrived to slay him.

1 Kings 19:8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.

When Elijah fled from Jezebel, he traveled 40 days and 40 nights.

Is this our probationary period? Is it a trial? Will we pass? 

I know in my own family this period of SIP has brought a difficult trial. My brother at 63 years old passed away on April 16. He battled for a year, but the cancer won. He lived on the East Coast and of course there will be no travel, no funeral, no family grieving together. I didn't get to say my last goodbye, hold his hand or pray over him. It was just by email. It seems that this is a message from God saying, “Rely on me. My grace is sufficient for you.” Will we? Will I? I still want my family around me. If it’s hard for me, it’s even harder for our 90-year old parents. They aren't getting the hugs, love, and support they need from family because they don’t use email anymore, never did Facebook and have a hard time hearing on the phone. They did manage to get on Zoom on Easter with a little help at their assisted living facility with the hope that my brother would join so they could see what he looked like. Unfortunately, he was not able to join. But they have God. Didn't he grieve the death of his own son? Isn't he enough? Would he understand? Again, I want to learn to turn to the source first before anyone else.

Dear God, 

Let me not be fooled that 40 days will be the right amount of time to reverse the damage of Covid-19. 

It's all in your perfect timing that things will be made right by you.

Let this period of abstinence of life as we know it, not tempt us to do things the easy way. 

Let me not forget others' needs.

Use this time to grow me and strengthen me. 

If this is a trial, I want to pass.

Help me to see that you are enough and make everything else I thought was essential fall away.

Remind me to rely on you always.

Thank you for my brother's life and to see what a blessing he was to my family.

Thank you for your comfort and joy even during sad times. 

Thank you for the trials.

Shelter in Peace,

Lisa Gergley