Our guide fanned her hand over flowers that looked like red poppies. She said, “Lilies of the Field.” In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, He said, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they: Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these” (Matthew 6:26 NKJV).
If you do not worry about food or drink or clothing, what do you worry about? These are troubling times. People are anxious or fearful or angry. To be honest, I am often grumpy when I can’t do the things I want because of a quarantine that has lasted more than sixty days. At first I enjoyed a slower lifestyle and found time to write and time to focus on what is really important. I thought of the isolation as forty days of cleansing, but this has lasted longer than forty days. I miss going to church. We are fortunate to be able to hear the music and the pastor’s sermons online. But I miss corporate worship, the gathering with brothers and sisters in Christ. I thought of God’s people in times past–before the tabernacle, the synagogue or the temple. Before church buildings. People loved God, and worship was important to them. That was the reason Moses gave Pharaoh to get out of Egypt–so the Israelites could worship their God, which is something they could not do during the 450 years they lived in Egypt.
Worship is essential to the believers. I am praying that very soon we can join with our church families without masks or social distancing. The Bible says, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24), and “Greet one another with a holy kiss” (2 Corinthians 13:12). Paul said that James, Cephas and John gave him the right hand of fellowship in Galatians 2:9. Part of corporate worship is shaking hands, hugging each other and sometimes giving a brother or sister a holy kiss.
So what do we do when we can’t do the things we want? I think the answer is in God’s word: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God” (Philippians 4:6)., and “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).
Prayer: Heavenly Father, we miss the time we share with our church families, times we worship you together. We are thankful for President Trump who wants to open the churches again and for pastors and teachers who long to share your truth with love and compassion. We want to show our brotherly love with no restrictions. Make it so, even now. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
A Closer Walk with God 