Does “2020 Suck” in the kingdom of heaven?
The other day, I was outside doing chores when a neighbor walked by with his dog and his son on training wheels. As the dad tripped up on the slack of the dog’s leash, his trendy t-shirt slogan had me doing a double-take. In big bold letters, the shirt said “2020 SUCKS.”
The sentiment is felt, man. In 2020, death and disease have overcome our news feeds. Fear has overtaken our communities. Confusion has found a place at the table. And injustice is rearing its ugly head all around us. Neither can we help but notice the uneasiness within. “2020 sucks” is a lucrative slogan—a money-making graphic to be slapped on everything. Recently, someone even sent me an image of the numbers 2-0-2-0 shaped into a flip of the bird.
The truth of the matter is, you won’t find many people who would argue that this year hasn’t been hard—there are many scary things playing out. Bad news never goes on vacation anymore, and we would give anything to take one. This is surely no Garden of Eden, and we would be right to lament over the brokenness around and within. As real suffering is felt all over the world, affecting all of us to some degree, we mourn it from a posture of “this isn’t how it was supposed to be.” Further, we yearn for it to be made right, for when Heaven will invade Earth and God Himself will wipe every tear (reference to Revelation 21:2-4).
But in the here and now, what are we left to do? Can we just cancel out 2020 in our minds and hearts, much like we cancel public figures when they throw us a politically incorrect curveball?
This blog is all about removing the scales and revealing God in our everyday lives. In Romans, Paul advises us to “be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”[1] Let’s break down this verse and see how we can apply it to this year of all years.
Be joyful in hope.
It’s obvious that when things are going great, our response would be joy. But that’s not what the verse says. It’s saying that when there’s even a glimmer of hope, we ought to choose joy. But when the context surrounding “2020 sucks” is our everyday reality, where can hope even be found?
A worship song pointed me toward the answer this morning. Reminding me that our everyday circumstance does not equal our eternal reality, Hillsong Worship’s “What a Beautiful Name” proclaims of Jesus,
“Death could not hold You, the veil tore before You
You silenced the boast, of sin and grave.
The Heavens are roaring, the praise of Your glory.
For You are raised to life again.
You have no rival, You have no equal
Now and forever God You reign.
…Nothing can stand against.”
Our God is one who can turn ashes into beauty. Who when all the world thought Jesus was dead along with the possibility of Him being our Savior along with it, He was in reality tearing the curtain, breaking open the veil that separated us from God. In the very worst, He was making a way. He was dying our kind of death that we may never in all of eternity have to experience the betrayal and rejection that was His on the cross.
Patient in Affliction.
If ever there was a time when “God’s economy is not our economy” it is now. Good thing, because our economy is about to be in the trash hole (I would like to thank my ten-year-old son for my vocabulary influence). But the phrase speaks to more than just the financial. When the world, along with the stock market, is crashing all around us, God can take our suffering and produce fruit.
Romans 5:4 tells us, “…we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance character; and character, hope.” (emphasis added) In God’s economy, we get to hope either way we go: when times are good or when they aren’t and His goodness is being worked out under the surface. That’s why “My fellow believers, when it seems as though you are facing nothing but difficulties,” we can “consider it pure joy.” (James 1:2 TPT and NIV verses combined)
Perseverance. It evokes the understanding that it’s going to take time, and time requires patience. (Hey! That’s a fruit of the Spirit.) But take note of the diamond. It is refined to its purest quality in a process that involves pressure and fire, deep cleaning and exposing to solvents. It endures this process on the way to clarity. It’s not far off from what we are experiencing. The Bible isn’t silent on it:
“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” (Romans 8:22-25)
When times are rough and there is not a whole lot of hope we can tangibly see, we choose patience. And as Romans 12:12 reminds us, we wrap it all up in prayer. That is our faithfulness.
Faithful in Prayer.
We are not asked to be faithful outside of the fact that He was faithful first. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) Do we have real, valid feelings of fear, anger (often for righteous reasons!) and legitimate concern? Yes. Can we always see the light coming? No. (You can learn more about one Old Testament prophet’s faithfulness in uncertain times HERE.) However, our present reality pails in comparison to the future glory about to be revealed (Romans 8:18). You can look to both God’s track record in the past and His promises for the future to know that He hears you in the now, and He is for you.
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[1] Romans 12:12
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I love your blogs. They are always challenging and deep truth!