Navigating the "New Normal"

My printer has been “acting up.” Eventually I will have to buy a new one, but for now shutting it down and unplugging it seems to clear the problem and resets it. Like many of you, I wish the year 2020 had a reset button. Between the Covid-19 pandemic, riots, fires, storms, and general uncertainty, this has been a year we would all rather forget. One phrase from 2020 has crept into our vocabulary, and it may be around for a while. That phrase is, “The New Normal.” How are you handling “The New Normal”? Three things have helped me to navigate “The New Normal,” and I hope they help you, too. Those three things are: 1. Knowing that God Never Changes 2. Knowing that God’s Word is True 3. Knowing that God’s Promises Will Never Fail God Never Changes—He is Merciful Even in “The New Normal” God never changes. He is merciful. Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, was written around 430 BC. At that time, many Jewish people had returned to Judea from captivity and were busy rebuilding their shattered lives. But at the same time they were dishonoring God. They continued to worship Him, but that worship was cold, formal and insincere. They offered the sacrifices required by the Law, but gave God their worst—their leftovers and cast-offs. In response God said, “offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person?” (Malachi 1:8). The people deserved to be punished severely, but God showed them mercy. In Malachi 3:6, He declared “I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” God’s Word is True—It is Trustworthy Even in “The New Normal” God’s Word, the Bible, is true. It is trustworthy. In 1776 Voltaire, the French Philosopher, arrogantly declared, “One hundred years from my day there will not be a Bible upon earth except one that is looked upon by an antiquarian curiosity seeker.” Voltaire died in 1778. Fifty years later his house in Geneva, Switzerland, was being used by the Evangelical Society of Geneva as a warehouse and distribution center for Bibles and religious tracts. The Bible is an ancient book, but it is not an outdated one. Millions still find peace, comfort, correction and direction in the Bible because it speaks clearly to the issues of today—the issues of life. Psalm 119 has been called “The Song of the Book.” Nearly every verse of this magnificent Psalm speaks of the Scriptures themselves—God’s “law,” God’s “testimonies,” God’s “precepts,” God’s “statutes,” God’s “commandments,” God’s “judgments,” etc. Psalm 119:89 declares, “For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.” God’s Promises Will Never Fail—He will Keep Them All Even in “The New Normal” God’s promises will not fail. He will keep every one of them. The Bible is full of “exceeding great and precious promises” (2 Peter 1:4). Promises of Forgiveness: “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7). Promises of Cleansing: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). Promises of Renewal: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Promises of Relationship: “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12). Navigating “The New Normal” may be challenging. But my hope is not in the return to the way things used to be pre-2020. My hope is in a Person, my Savior, Jesus Christ. Is He your Savior too, or do you just know about Him? Listen to His words in Matthew 11:28, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Turn to Christ—come to Him today. Admit your sin, humbly ask Him to save you and He will. Blessings to you! – Daniel E. Benton