A Prayer a Day: Good morning, Lord. Yesterday the subject of reopening the churches came into sharp focus, when President Trump told the governors to get the churches, synagogues, and Mosques open for worship. I had trouble sleeping last night.My concern is to honor you, God, in all things, and to be a good shepherd to Grace Church members and attendees. Lord, I remember well that James 1:5, reads, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God and you, Lord, will not rebuke us? So, Holy God, I come on my knees, asking you to give us your wisdom, so that this very important decision on how and when to reopen Grace Church for public worship, will be worked through accordingly to your will. Lord, we know it is your intentional will, that Christians gather for worship, study, service, and fellowship. But, what is your circumstantial will in the face of this once a century pandemic? Heavenly Father, we want what you want in this situation and all others. This whole thing gets very messy, because offical mandates and guidelines are coming to us from three sources.The CDC, Center for Disease Control, has many pages of guidelines for churches to follow to reopen. The West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church has issued specific guidelines, and Gov. Mike Dewine and Dr. Amy Acton have also issued guidelines. Lord, we want to respect secular leaders and their guidelines. We want to respect medical experts and their guidelines. We want to respect the guidance of our church leadership, and we want to protect our people from harm. Back to James 1:5, Lord, we especially your guidance, because our earthly leaders are not in agreement about the guidelines. All three initiates
giving us guidelines in writing, agree that we should not reopen with new cases of community spread. So, Lord, using the brain you gave me, I’d say, since Clark County had 20 new cases this week, connected to the Dole plant, that opening right now is not an option. Lord, I guess you can see we desperately need your wisdom, and you have provided it right now. You have given me clarity on this issue, at least, for today. Thank you, Lord, for stimulating my ability to reason as I pray, maybe this is another good reason to pray. We love you, Lord, and we want to resume public worship, but we don’t want to hurt a single lamb in our flock. Help us, Lord, to continue to navigate these turbulent waters, with your close guidance. Come Holy Spirit and make us wise: amen.