By Pierce Drake, Pastor of Students

I want you to think back to eating lunch at school on Monday, March 2nd. What if a friend leaned across the table and said, “I can’t believe this is our last day at school for the year.”

We would have joked around and called that friend a little crazy. We would have asked what mystery meat they got in the lunch line.

The last two and a half months have been a whirlwind. We were hit by tornadoes and then a global pandemic back to back. As the news kept coming we began to realize things would be different and things would be lost.

Spring Sports - Nope
Spring Musical & Play - Nope
Prom - Nope
School Year - Nope
Friends Coming Over - Nope
Vacation - Nope
Graduation - Not like we had planned
Stuck At Home - Yes

It’s not just school stuff that’s been hit. As students you also have had the weight of worrying about friends and family who can’t afford to get sick. The list goes on.

A wave of emotions can hit us and for so many of us we try to play it off. We can watch Netflix all we want and have unlimited TikTok, but we have come to realize that’s not enough.

We have moved from taking it as it comes, thinking surely it won’t last too long, to now really grieving this time and things that have been lost. I think some of the hardest news is the unknown of how long this will last.

As we are in this series on Blessing, it sounds odd to focus on that word in this moment. I love what Pastor Jacob said in his sermon yesterday, “We all have something to mourn . . . When we mourn we can be comforted.”

That is the blessing that we have in this moment. To know that we are not alone. Who are we with? The one true God who said, “Let there be light,” and from pure darkness he created light. The same God who breathed into Adam and into Eve giving them the breath of life. The same God who put every star in its place and holds it there. The same God who sent his Son to be with us, live among us, and eventually die for us. The same Son who didn’t stay dead in the grave, but walked out of it alive overcoming death itself. The same God who says if we will just put our faith in him he is faithful and just to forgive all our sins and offer us salvation!

That God says…
WHEN WE MOURN, WE ARE COMFORTED BY HIM!

What a gift.
What a blessing.

We have been through a lot. The pain is real, and the grief is true. But the blessing is that the presence of God is with us in this, and his presence brings comfort.

We will get through this together with the comfort of Christ giving us strength and assurance.

Blessing.