I Miss Your Face

“I had many things to write, but I do not wish to write to you with pen and ink; but I hope to see you shortly, and we shall speak face to face. Peace to you. Our friends greet you. Greet the friends by name.”

3 John 1:13-14


Reading the third epistle of John this morning who was known as the “disciple whom Jesus loved” you can easily tell from the way he writes that he loved the church, not the building but the people. It’s hard to imagine that one who could write so tenderly was once know as a “Son of Thunder” due to his quick temper and desire to call down fire from heaven on people he didn’t care for. I love how Jesus changes our lives from being self centered to others focused, from wanting to call down fire from heaven on people to wanting them to know how much they were longed for and loved. I don’t know about you but I miss seeing our church family as well as my own family face to face.

For me, one if not the worst aspects of the COVID-19 virus is the social distancing that it has caused. Like the old saying, “distance makes the heart grow fonder.” After all, we were created by God and He hard wired us for relationships so it only makes sense that when we are isolated from one another for whatever reason, after a while its impact will be felt. Just look around, we are seeing it all around the country today. The majority of American’s are longing for human contact, just to be around other people, enjoying and sharing life together. I doubt anyone will ever again complain about how noisy their favorite restaurant might be. After all, its silence that is the most deafening and over the long run does the most harm.

There has been nothing like the Coronavirus to hit the United States from the standpoint that we literally shut down our entire country (minus what the government deemed “essential businesses”) for over a month now as people were told to “shelter in place.” The old saying, “drastic means call for drastic measures” has never been more true, especially regarding the church and the love we share as friends. The church is the most “essential” institution on earth if you consider the price Jesus was willing to pay to redeem her. There have been so many heart warming stories about the length friends would go in reaching one another during this global pandemic. Their stories could fill volumes of pages of books. Testimonies of love and care, sacrifice and suffering for not just those we know and love, but perfect strangers too. Millions of new friendships have been forged in the midst of this trial by those willing to get involved and be on the front lines.    

You might feel like you are stuck at home today because of the coronavirus, unable to do the things you would normally be doing with co-workers, family members and friends today. But that doesn’t mean we are helpless. Like every time I read Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” that song by Marvin Gaye, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” begins to playing in my head.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God that’s in Christ Jesus, so don’t let the Coronavirus keep you from getting to the people in your life who are in need of a friend too. Pick up the phone today, send an email or a text. Send a card or a letter or even a gift in the mail letting them know you miss them, that they are in your thoughts and prayers. Considering dropping off a care package on their front door that says, “aint no mountain high enough, aint no valley low, aint no river wide enough, to keep me from getting to you…” The Coronavirus might stop a lot of things in this world but one thing for sure it can’t stop God’s love.

“A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

Proverbs 18:24  
 

I LOVE YOU!

Michael Osthimer

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