“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” —ISAIAH 41:10 NASB
There’s a saying that goes something like this: “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him about your plans.” God must be laughing hysterically this year because I just don’t know a single person whose plans have not been altered or ruined in 2020. In some instances, it was just minor inconveniences but for many people, their dreams have literally been shattered.
By nature, I am a planner. I don’t like to live in the moment. I need to know in advance what I’m going to do next year. This 2020 has taught me that I’m not in control. Actually, God has tried to teach me that many times, I just don’t want to learn the lesson.
This was going to be the year when we were going to start traveling overseas not once but twice a year. We decided to sell our house and move to a much smaller apartment with those plans in mind. So we started 2020 with big plans. In May we would go to Germany and in November to Argentina. By the end of January, we had our trip to Germany fully booked and planned day by day. By March, we knew that our plans had been ruined. We were not alone. Pretty much, everyone that had travel plans for 2020 saw their dreams go up in smoke. I guess I can’t complain since the airline reimbursed us for the full fare, but I still would have preferred to go to Germany.
Worst than cancelled travel plans is not being able to see your family. I have not seen my oldest son and his wife in ten months. It’s the longest I’ve gone without seeing them. Even when they lived in California, we would see them a few times per year. I guess we could fly to New York. I know many people that are taking flights within the country. But when you have a family member with a serious health condition, we have to balance the desire to see our son with the risks involved.
One of my closest friends has not been able to see her daughter since December. She left to Australia on a one-year visa which has turned into two years. My friend had planned to meet up with her during Holy Week in Dubai and then she was planning a three-week trip to Australia in August. Now she has no idea if she’ll be able to at least see her daughter during Christmas. And my sister-in-law has not seen my nephew since February. He lives in California and hopefully will be able to come over in November. And that story repeats itself in family after family. Grandparents that have not been able to meet their newborn grandkids. And so many of our elderly confined to nursing homes without seeing their family members in six months.
I know a few persons that are less than ten years from retirement and now have been laid off. They are scrambling to find health insurance because finding another job at their age when there are so many people unemployed is nearly impossible. All their dreams have been shattered in the blink of an eye. Now they have to tap into their retirement funds just to make ends meet. All those plans to work five or six more years until they could qualify for Medicare and social security, and then start enjoying their retirement years traveling or spending time visiting their kids and grandkids, have been demolished.
Being enclosed in close quarters has put more than one marriage through the fire, and some have not survived. And at this point, most of us either know someone that has lost their life because of Covid-19, or we know someone that has lost a loved one. A friend lost her husband this week. Another friend lost his grandfather last month. Even if we manage to get together with our loved ones this Thanksgiving, many people are not going to have a lot to be thankful for this year.
But in spite of all these ruined plans and shattered dreams, there is one constant in our lives, and that is God. Yes, we plan and God laughs, but I honestly don’t think that God is laughing this year. I think that He is crying with us. But He wants us to know that He is not going anywhere and that we can rely on Him. Even if we had to cancel our travel plans, we will be able to travel once again because just like the Spanish flu of 1918 didn’t last forever, this 2020 virus will also come to an end. We will be able to reunite with our family members that live far from us and we will be able to hug them again. We will get to visit our elderly once again. Grandparents will meet their grandkids. God will provide for those that have lost their jobs because when one door closes, another one opens much wider. And to those whose marriages have ended during this pandemic, allow God to be your beacon and He will lead you out of the turbulence your heart is experiencing right now.
This year has been filled with fear and uncertainty, but if we grab unto the Lord, we shall not fear. However, if we have pushed God out of our lives, then we will live in fear of everything. The biggest fear we are facing today is the fear of death. We fear catching the virus and dying. And even worst, we fear losing a loved one because of the virus. And many have already experienced it. But if we remember that death is inevitable and we will all have to experience it at one point or another because death is universal, then we can relax. Of course, nobody wants to die today and nobody wants to lose a loved one today, but if we have a close relationship with God then we know that death is not the end, it’s the beginning. If we believe that Jesus resurrected, then we know that He has the power to raise us and that we are destined to live forever with Him. So to those that have lost a loved one this year, all I can say is to grab unto the Lord and He will give you the reassurance that your loved one is not dead, your loved one is alive in paradise.
Let us not allow our ruined plans and shattered dreams to define this year for us. When Thanksgiving rolls around in less than three months, my hope is that we will all have something to be thankful for. In spite of whatever suffering we have experienced, if we hand our shattered dreams to the Lord, He can turn them into something good. If we place our ruined plans at the foot of the cross, He will help us to navigate through our difficulties. God knows that 2020 has hit most people really hard, and He is not laughing because our plans were ruined, He just wants us to trust Him that from these ashes, we will all rise.
