Lord, I’m reading in Job and Ezekiel right now, and honestly, it’s pretty dark. But in a way, this feels like where I need to be reading because the times in which we are living are very dark, too.

In Job, he’s endured the worst possible tragedies a human can endure. He’s lost everything. But not because of his sinfulness. Because of a bet made in heaven, or hell, between God and Satan.

In Ezekiel, the prophet keeps warning of more impending disaster because of the sins of Israel, as again and again and again they turn away from You, Lord. I read the words, and I wince because honestly, 2020 feels like it could have been plucked out of the prophet’s passages in the Old Testament. So much death, so much disaster.

This phrase in Ezekiel struck me this morning: “He (God) appointed beautiful ornaments for majesty, but they made their detestable images from them, their abhorrent things. Therefore, I have made these into something filthy to them…” (Ezekiel 7:20).

We’ve hoarded wealth, Lord, and we’ve mistreated the beautiful world You created, and then instead of praising You for it, we’ve made ‘detestable images’ out of beauty. We’ve sought comfort and ease above care and protection for the planet and those who indwell it. We’re so confused, Lord, because we’re double-minded.

I get that those who don’t know You would misuse all the beauty and bounty in this world, but it’s the Christians that break my heart when I see us misusing it. Sometimes it’s not caring about the world, the earth, sometimes it’s misusing Your Word, like when mega-church pastors say it’s better to obey God than man and then gather thousands in a church building without masks or social distancing.

But the church is not a building! When I read articles about this in the news, I get angry. I don’t understand such arrogance. How can we show love to one another and to those outside the church by putting thousands in danger of infection?

But after reading in Job and Ezekiel, I move to my daily reading in Acts, and there are Peter and John saying, “Whether it is right in the sight of God for us to listen to you rather than to God, you decide, for we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” Acts 4: 19-20

What is the answer, Jesus, in these dark times? We pray and try to listen and hear You.

And on my own tiny little personal level, my heart hurts at my hard heart. Because honestly, Lord, I care so much about myself. Sometimes it seems my heart is stone again—when I compare with others and grow jealous, when I just want to sit back in my backyard in the lounge chair and sip a glass of wine and breathe deeply after a day of hard work, when I judge other’s hypocrisy or fanaticism instead of humbly confessing my sin.

These are indeed dark times, and I do believe You are calling Your people to shine Your light. But if we all disagree about how to do that, oh, Lord, what is the witness?

I know there will always be a remnant, Lord. You promise this in Ezekiel and all the other prophets. Have mercy on us, Lord. And please, please, give me back my heart of flesh and ears to hear You so that I can do the next thing, step by little step, that You ask of me. May I echo Peter and John and keep speaking of Who You are and Your goodness and glory, no matter what.

For such a time as this.

Because even in these dark times, I spy a rainbow.

Dear readers, look again at the photo at the beginning of the post. Do you see it, too? Hope!

ELIZABETH MUSSER writes ‘entertainment with a soul’ from her writing chalet—tool shed—outside Lyon, France. Find more about Elizabeth’s novels at www.elizabethmusser.com and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and her blog.