I have never experienced the emotions like I have these past six weeks.  I’ve resigned myself to being locked in my home like a prisoner.  I’ve cried over the losses the world experiences.  I’ve run the streets in anger, pounding the pavement with all the force and duration I can muster.  I’ve smiled through the pain of not knowing when this will all end.  I’ve raged at the loss of fundamental liberties.  I’m sure you share these and other feelings.

As we struggle through what may be the strangest time in our lives, I am reminded of foundational verses we read in God’s Word, in Colossians 2:6-7

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

I learned these verses many years ago, in a discipleship study created by The Navigators called “The 2:7 Series.”  My church singles group pastor, who studied under the founder of the Navigators, encouraged all of us to participate.  It was a two-year small group study, requiring a strong commitment to completion.  I had never been in a study quite like it, and remember the weekly meetings and going through the six workbooks and dozens of memory verses even today.

Today as I woke up from a peaceful sleep, I asked God to give me words to encourage others in our unusual and unsettling times.  In this moment, Psalm 119:9-11 were the first words that I recalled.  For whatever reason, I found myself climbing the attic stairs as quietly as possible while my wife slumbered, and retrieving my 2:7 workbooks from a bin marked “Chip’s Ancient Books.”  There, I found in Course 6 “The Hand Illustration,” which had come to mind along with the verses in Psalm 119.

The hand illustration was meaningful to me.  It describes a journey to greater and greater dependence on God, leading to a powerful indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  In the illustration, each finger is associated with one of five disciplines.  Looking at each finger, we see how each of the five activities has the strength of that finger, and from little finger to thumb the activities have more and more impact on us.

The five disciplines are based in God’s Word:

Hear [Romans 10:17]

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

Read [Revelation 1:3]

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

Study [Acts 17:11]

Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

Memorize [Psalm 119:9-11]

How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word.  I seek you with all my heart;  do not let me stray from your commands.  I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

Meditate [Psalm 1:2-3]

but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.  That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers

No matter what, God is with us.  God alone can carry us through this.  God wants us to rely only on Him, in His providence and in His love.  The principles of this hand illustration give us steps we can take to bring us greater and greater spiritual peace, even now.  Let’s challenge ourselves to hold on to God’s Word in new ways, trusting Him in everything.