For Such a Time as This

As we flipped the calendar into 2020, the church was thriving with new faces each week and great worship services drawing all of us closer to the Lord. There were rumblings of the virus but it seemed to be way off from us. Then March came and the shutdowns across our landscape. Now it looks like it could be some time before life will be “normal” again. What we want is NORMAL.

Henrietta Mears was a great Christian leader in the 1950s and 60s. (I know, I’m that old.) That was a time when there wasn’t much for women to do in ministry except be a missionary or teach Sunday School. She, however, worked with college students and perhaps founded the first college ministry anywhere. Over 600 students from UCLA, USC, Los Angeles City College, Occidental and others came every Sunday to hear her teach the Word. She mentored over 400 young men who went into full time ministry, including people whose names you would recognize. Polio was the great health risk in her day, and civil unrest was similar to today.

I know a few people who sat under her teaching of Scripture. There was nothing shy about her unreserved call to giving your all to the Lord. Over and over I’ve heard people quote her as saying to college students:

“You were made for such a time as this.” 

What was “that time” for them? Post World War II. Polio. Civil unrest. Political chaos. The Korean War broke out and Henrietta was exhorting college students: “You — Mary, Jenny, Sally, Judy and Martha — God has made you for such a time as this.”

Our challenge during these days is to “pay attention” to what God is saying to us. What is He calling us to DO? to LIVE? It’s time to stop waiting for “normal” and start living what John the Baptist called us to — the “Kingdom of God.” That might look different for each of us, but it’s worth spending some time with. Summer is on its way out and autumn is around the corner.

It’s time to ask yourself “What do I truly believe about God?” Absolutely nothing is out of His control and He is calling us to Himself, to the world, for such a time as this.