The article below titled “NO ORDINARY GOD” was given to NAAV, Inc. for posting on April 26, 2020 for all military and civilian caregivers and family members facing the challenges of COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic outbreak worldwide. It is hoped that this message presented by Francheska T. Atchison, a NAAV volunteer freelance writer will encourage your heart, mind, and soul as well as increase your faith and trust in the LORD our God.
“I AM WHO I AM? (Exodus 3:14)
Early last month, I attended a concert. Among the announced vocals I was blessed to hear, was a young artist named Kelontae Gavin. He sung a powerful worship song that has since become one of my favorite anthems. The song is simply titled. No Ordinary Worship, and the lyrics speak to the fact that God is not an ordinary god.
Undoubtedly, the coronavirus pandemic our world is experiencing is nothing of the ordinary. The invasion of this disease has impacted all lives. Mundane tasks that were once done mindlessly – grocery shopping, pumping gas, and opening mail – are now done consciously with careful preparation and protection. Household products that were once sold in surplus – disinfectants, toilet paper, and cleaning essentials – are now in shortage across the world.
Our economy is suffocating. Our children’s education is on pause. Our plans are cancelled. Our homes are our quarantine refuge. The ordinary life we once know – is altered, and the lingering optimism that is will ever be the same continuously fades. But the ultimate impact of this merciless disease is not the inconveniences of life that still have hope for resuscitation. Vulnerable, innocent human lives are the irreplaceable victims.
For me personally, I have deep sorrow for the devastating fatalities, I cope with the new “norms,” and I try to resist my fears and anxieties. I’ve accepted that my quarantine goals will likely not be as grandiose as I once thought. My new fear is just maintaining peace and sanity in the midst of it all. Even if that means my quarantine parenting standards are apparently lower than normal. I realized that recently when I allowed my 9 year old daughter to eat popsicles for breakfast. Life is definitely different. This monstrous pandemic and restrictive quarantine are far from ordinary – but I’m comforted when I remind myself that I don’t serve an “ordinary” God.
When Moses asked God who he should tell the Israelites sent him, God’s response was, “I AM Who I am”. Only God could give that response. Unlike humans, God doesn’t describe Himself by validation. God is who “He is.” His power transcends definition and description. God is not human. A truth God Himself reminds us of in His Word (Numbers 23:19). His presence alone is so great, He tells Moses, “You cannot see my face, for no man shall see Me and Live” (Exodus 33:20). There’s no image we could ever conceive in our minds that would embody the enormity of God.
There are many exceptionally intelligent humans scrambling to find the answers to the crisis our world is enduring. But our hope for this crisis or any other – is not put in the limited abilities, thoughts, or solutions of humans. We put our hope in the unmatched power of God. Our Creator makes it very clear, that He is noting like us. Isaiah 55:9 says, “As the heavens are higher that the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
No human could create an earth “hung on nothing,” or creatures “that have breath of life,” or man “of dust from the ground”. It’s imperative we never become desensitized to God’s majestic wonders. His Word lives, His Blood saves, and His Power is infinite. In God – we have supreme hope and can rest in that faith.
Jesus commands us not to have “an anxious mind” (Luke 12:29). His pleasing desire is that we “seek Him.” Praying with unwavering faith activates God’s super-extraordinary power. As humans, we don’t have the answers – but there’s an “I AM” who does. We’re not in control – but there’s an “I AM” who is. We don’t know the outcomes – but there’s an “I AM” who hears our prayers.
Indeed, the current state of the entire world is anything but ordinary … but that’s the glory of God – He specializes in the extraordinary! He is the “I AM” who is NO ORDINARY GOD!
Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father,
We thank You that You’re not an ordinary God … we thank You that You have the power to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we can ask or think. We ask that You cover us and our world … and we thank You for the miraculous things You are doing and will do. In Jesus’ name, we ask all things.
We love You. Amen.
All Scripture verses are taken for the New King James Version of the Holy Bible.
By Francheska T. Atchison, NAAV Volunteer Freelance Writer, Veteran, U.S. Air Force (Retired), Upper Marlboro, Maryland; email: info@naavets.org