I officially began following shelter in place orders at the end of the school day on March 17th. The last day that I saw my students in the classroom was that day. While at the carpet, eleven little six-year-old faces (the parents of the others had decided to keep them home) stared at me, afraid that the whole world was going to get sick and die. Although they played with their friends at recess, enjoyed my corny first-grade jokes, and sang along with the first-grade phonics songs that I bombard them with each morning, I could tell they were worried. Things being the way they are in the public school setting, I couldn’t tell them how I really felt, so I tried to comfort them by telling them that the Coronavirus was not something they had to worry about, but that school was closing so that whatever was going on wouldn’t hurt their grandmas and grandpas. I could tell it helped a little, but not much. I could tell they were still afraid. This was all new to them. Shucks, it was new to me. I really didn’t know what to believe. One news station said one thing, another said something else. Actually, I still don’t know what to believe.
What I wanted to tell my little six years old, but really couldn’t, is spelled out in Isaiah 46:10-11. This scripture reads: I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’ From the east, I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do (NIV).
It fills my heart with such joy to read that scripture and know I don’t have to worry about tomorrow because the God of yesterday, today, and tomorrow, has complete control. It means that God turned to the last chapter in our story and is ordering our steps to direct us to an expected end. Doesn’t this give you a great sense of relief? This is what makes Jeremiah 29:11 so poignant. It reads: for I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end (KJV). God knows just where you and I are, and He has our end all planned out. As a single woman I wonder will that end include a husband. I wonder will that end include a new way of teaching that will see my working at home more than in the classroom. Whatever it includes, I know that God has it all set up, and it is in my best interest to let Him order my steps the way He chooses to. That means things may not always work out the way I want them to. It may mean I will shed some tears and even ask him ‘why me’. It may very well mean that everything I ever wanted in life, I will receive. Who knows? God knows. And it is for certain that what God has planned He will do, and there is nothing I can do but stand still and see the salvation and sovereignty of the Lord.