Remember the Larger Story

Remember the Larger Story
   
In Exodus 5 the Israelites’ situation in Egypt gets harder. Similarly, life has gotten harder for us over the past four months, with a virus-based pandemic being thrown on top of all of our already ongoing struggles in life. At the beginning of Exodus 6 the Lord reminds Moses that he is writing a larger story, and that the immediate circumstances of chapter 5 are not the final say. This is true for us as God’s people today as well, that there is a larger story we are in, one in which COVID-19 does not have the final say. And the Lord has provided us a wonderful way to remember this, articulated by Paul in Ephesians 1:14: “The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.”
 
Paul says in this verse that one of the ministries of the Holy Spirit, who indwells each person whose faith is in Christ, is that the Spirit consistently reminds us of God’s larger story. He’s like a down payment on a house, the first step toward a future reality. His presence in our lives reminds us that an eternal inheritance awaits us, one that cannot be reduced or taken away by COVID-19 or anything else in this life. And so how does Paul say that this truth should translate into our day-to-day lives now? In praising and glorifying the Lord! In a time where it would be easy for our words and attitudes to reflect anger or complaining, may our remembrance of the Holy Spirit cause us to praise and glorify the Lord because we know that the days we find ourselves in now are not the end of the story.