In times like these it is important to remember that there have always been times like these - Paul Harvey

Unprecedented is easily the word of the year, and I hate it! 

I hate it mostly because of the over use. I cannot listen to any form of media without hearing or seeing the word. It's everywhere. It’s unprecedented!

I also hate it because it’s very use has an intended purpose. It's use is designed to produce an emotional response. It is designed to produce discouragement, despair and fear. When we hear the word unprecedented it is intended to make us anxious, because surely if this event is unprecedented then something this bad has never happened before and we are hopelessly ill-equipped to respond. 

When you hear "unprecedented" you hear;

“Something like this has never happened before.”

“This is worse than anyone has ever experienced before.”

“Nobody has suffered like we are suffering right now.”

“This has never happened before, therefore we have no answers and there is no solution.”

Of course these ideas are meant to produce fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. We are meant to feel like victims, we are supposed to feel helpless and hopeless. It’s not long before we look for someone to blame, we begin to indulge in self pity, which will inevitably lead to anger, bitterness and resentment. All the tools of the enemy whose only purpose is to steal kill and destroy.

I don't think the media is smart enough or sophisticated enough to be playing us on purpose, but I do believe that Satan is driving his agenda right now. The media are just useful tools to get his message out. It is the devil who is trying to keep us on edge. He is the father of lies and he is a merchant of fear. So we are bombarded with bad news in a constantly refreshing cycle. Every 24 hours something new, or something worse is discovered, and reported on. It's unprecedented!

Even now, just as we were beginning to believe we had an answer for Covid, a new, worse, more contagious strain of covid has been discovered. It's unprecedented!

I agree, these are unusual times, but as Paul Harvey said “In times like these it is important to remember that there have always been times like these”. 

In 1943 Ruth Caye was sitting at home reading the local newspaper. It was wartime. The paper was filled with casualty lists of dead and wounded soldiers. There was bad news about how poorly the war effort was going in Europe. Rationing had hit hard at home and people everywhere were discouraged and fearful. These were perilous, dare I say, unprecedented times. Ruth was also reading her bible that morning and she had just read 2 Timothy 3:1 “... in the last days perilous times will come”.

She took a notepad from her apron pocket and she began to write ... she was not trying to write a song but the notes she made that morning became the words to a well known and popular hymn.

In times like these you need a Savior,

In times like these you need an anchor; 

Be very sure, be very sure,

Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!

This Rock is Jesus, Yes He's the One,
This Rock is Jesus, the only One;
Be very sure, be very sure,
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!

In times like these you need the Bible,

In times like these, O be not idle; 

Be very sure, be very sure,

Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!

This Rock is Jesus, Yes He's the One,
This Rock is Jesus, the only One;
Be very sure, be very sure,
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!

In times like these I have a Savior,

In times like these I have an anchor;

I'm very sure, I'm very sure

My anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!

This Rock is Jesus, Yes He's the One,
This Rock is Jesus, the only One;
Be very sure, be very sure,
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!

 

Don’t subscribe to the fear mongering today. Yes, times are bad, but there have always been times like these. Other times in history times have been bad, and maybe even worse than these... but one thing remains the same, Christ, the solid rock, is the anchor in every storm!