Christian counselor Jeremy Pierre impacted me by writing “We don’t project on God things from our experience. He reveals himself to us, by which we then understand our experience.”

Here’s how I see the quote working out at the start of 2022:

I am disappointed with the renewed covid rampage. Various groups & meetings are being forced back onto Zoom.

In view of that crummy development, it is easy to start to complain – asking “God why are you are doing this letting the pandemic resurge ??”  and to descend into discouragement.

Yes, if I base it on my experience, then it might seem that God is mad at us or judging us or indifferent to our plight. Might figure it’s a miserly God that we have.

But what if I look to what God reveals about himself, and then apply that to our experience.

In Scripture, God says he is loving, caring and sovereign.

In view of that, God is telling us something along these lines: “I am the Lord your God. Regardless of how long the pandemic lasts or any new variants that occur, I remain your loving and compassionate father.”

Those words keep my disappointment from turning into discouragement. To be discouraged is to lose sight of God being in control and God loving us. While during disappointment we know God IS in control and loves us even when we haven’t yet gotten what we are asking for. There is grace for what we are walking through.

May the Spirit empower you to walk in that grace of God in Christ going forward in 2022!

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