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Matthew 19:26 states "With God all things are possible" (NIV).
Matthew 17:20 states "Because you have so little faith, I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you" (NIV).
Perry Como sang 'It's Impossible -- to tell the sun to leave the sky, ask a baby not to cry'. Do we believe Perry -- or do we believe that if we have faith, anything is possible?
We have been waiting forever (it seems) for the pandemic to be over. Is it possible that it will end? Is it possible for us to do something ourselves to make it end? Is our faith great enough to make it possible through our prayers?
Many prayers were answered by God in the Bible. Here are a few:
Hannah prayed for a son -- promising to give him back to the Lord. Her son, Samuel, became the greatest prophet. And, Hannah had three more sons and two daughters.
Peter prayed to be released from prison.
Daniel prayed for God to reveal the pharaoh's dream and its interpretation.
Joshua prayed for the Sun and Moon to stand still.
Hezekiah added fifteen years to his life by praying.
Jairis asked Jesus to heal his daughter.
The thief on the cross asked Jesus to save him.
Even though we know many prayers are answered, we also know that many are not answered as we have prayed. Many times, our prayers are answered by God in ways we have never thought of, and we may not realize that our prayers have been answered.
Does God have a plan for our world that we have not discovered yet because we are suffering from being isolated from our usual activities and our friends? Will our prayers to end the pandemic really happen? We say we want to get back to normal, however, normal as we knew it previously may not be the best thing to happen.
We have learned a new way of relating to each other that would not have been learned without the pandemic. We attend Zoom meetings and cheer each other on -- maybe more than during face-to-face meetings. There are no snow days now for a meeting!
And, changes have happened to our earth because of less human activity. There is less smog in some places, more aquatic life in rivers and oceans, and fewer cars and airplanes to pollute our atmosphere. But, what will happen when businesses and travel are opened to the previous level?
In this bleak time, it is possible to find some good. Is this God working in His way? Will we learn from all of this, or just go back to the same old routine and destruction of the planet that we were in before the pandemic? Let's remember -- with God, all things are possible.
Ruth K. Keller, member of New Covenant United Church of Christ and the United Churches of Lycoming County Social Concerns Committee