Jesus Has Your Back

    These are trying times.  Again and again, we hear about the pandemic.  We can’t avoid it, because it has affected everyone in the world.  It broke my heart yesterday as I watched the news.  The people of India leaving the large cities to go home after losing their jobs.  Jobs are lost because of COVID19 and government ordered everything to close.  This left hundreds of people with only one option, walk back to their villages.  As I watched the roads filled with people, I wondered how many will make it.  Then, I turn on the TV for the morning news this morning with news of thousands more in our country sick with this virus.   It is easy to let this get us down.  Very fortunately, I know someone has my back.  Jesus knows me and always has my back.

     If you watch programs or movies with a military theme, you will hear, “I got your back.”  In other words, “Don’t worry, I’m watching out for you.”  For me, I know Jesus always has my back.  Yes, Jesus had my back when we lost our jobs due to La-Z-Boy East closing.  Kevin took a transfer halfway across the country, so we had to move.  Through it all, Jesus had our back.  We were heart broken when we left our home, but good things happened.  Thanks to Cedar Grove Baptist Church, Kevin’s heart and life changed.  When Kevin left that job to help with the care of his mother, Jesus was there.  Things declined emotionally as we faced problems and division in his family.  In the middle of trying to make things work, I spent five weeks watching my sister die.  It was hard.  I wanted it to be me not her, because she had young children.  To make things worse, my car was stolen and never recovered.  Despair with the problems with Kevin’s mother, stolen car, and my sister’s death almost broke us emotionally.  Jesus had our back and lifted us up.  It felt like a miracle.  Jobs for both of us, it was amazing how everything feel into place.  A few years later, my healthy Kevin died just five days before his twin sister’s life ended due to cancer.  He was her caretaker. I was in shock and mentally on edge.  God was there with me through those months of grieving.  Kevin and I had so many plans.  We had so much hope.  In that grief, Jesus had my back.  He lifted me up and showed me that He was not finished with me yet.  Now, as we all are quarantined, hospitals are overflowing, and some are losing hope, I’m confident Jesus is near.  Jesus will always be near to the end as long as we have our faith. 

     Jesus is near and knows me better than I know me.  I’m confident because of all the things I’ve witnessed in my sixty-eight years.  When doctors were telling my parents that there was no treatment for their daughter, my parents did not give up.  Even with no clear diagnosis for the seizures and occasional loss of use of left side of body, my mother dragged me to every doctor she could find within driving distance of home.  She found two young doctors who agreed to take me as a patient.  Three years later, I was almost normal.  The seizures gradually went away.  I still was very much under-weight, but the therapy along with my faith made me whole.  I graduated in the top ten of my high school class.  I had not thought of those years until this morning when I read a tweet about a Bible verse that changed some one’s life.  It reminded me of this time when doctors gave my parents no hope for me.  I hated my life with the seizures and constant falling down.  I hated it when my hand would not hold a pencil in class.  I was embarrassed.  I did not like to be the center of attention.  I hated the many days in the hospital with nurses and doctors constantly probing me, taking blood samples, and the many tests.  I hated the many times I had to scrub the glue from my scalp.  I couldn’t gain weight and hated looking so ugly.  I was twelve and weighed fifty-five pounds.  I hated my life and did not want to live any more.  I considered ending my life.  The night I went to the kitchen to find the sharpest knife, I found my father’s Bible on the kitchen table.  I sat down.  I opened the Bible.  I don’t remember the verse.  I’ve searched for it.  The verse was about the value of life and God’s purpose for us.  It gave me hope.  Jesus had my back that night.  He knows me so much more than I know myself.
     “In the same way the Spirit also helps in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” (Romans 8:26 NASB) God knows us more that we know ourselves.  Sometimes, we don’t know how to pray as we should, but God is there.  He knows all.  God searches our hearts and minds.  “He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:27,28 NASB) The “He” in verses 27 and 28 is Jesus.  Jesus intercedes for us.  He died on the cross for our sins.  His blood was shed for our redemption.  Jesus loves us.  He knows us better than we do.  As we face troubles and this pandemic, place your hope in Jesus.  We know things will get worse before the pandemic ends.  The only thing to do is to place our faith and hope in Jesus.  Turn to Jesus and find the peace and love that can only come for our Savoir.  Through it all, be confident in Jesus’ love.  Jesus loves you and has your back.

Psalms 139: 1-18