Roundup Record Tribune & Winnett Times -

2020

This began as a pretty great year for me. I was having a lot of trouble reading, especially Hebrew and Greek which use dots as vowels. I had to squint a lot and could only read for about 15 minutes. So, in early March I had those cataracts removed and could read for as long as I wanted. Even see all the tiny dots for vowels!!

Then, without warning, in late March, I was hit with a severe back pain that has incapacitated me for 3 months now. It is gradually subsiding, but how long O Lord? Anyway, what has that to do with 2020? I didn’t know until God explained it to me. Each Hebrew letter of the alphabet has a number, each has a name, and each has a picture. The number 20 in Hebrew is coph and the picture is an open hand. 2020 shows us 2 open hands – God pouring down double blessings upon His children.

We don’t feel very blessed in this time of corona virus, do we? Some people feel cursed instead. Remember that ‘corona’ in Greek means ‘crown’. God is going to crown us with more blessings than we can handle. God is not punishing us, but is working behind the scenes to bring to us the blessings. Do you want to know what God is doing? Then look at what the devil is doing and reverse it. The devil acts openly, God often acts invisibly but victoriously. Who will win in the conflict? God always wins.

The only safety is in the Lord. The Lord saved Moses from the Egyptian Pharaoh by placing him in Pharaoh’s own household as one of his relatives. (Exodus 2). The Lord saved Joseph by giving him favor with all his ‘owners’ (Pilate, jailer, Pharaoh), the Lord saved Jesus by telling Joseph to take him into Egypt so that Herod wouldn’t be able to kill him in the coming slaughter of children. If you need further encouragement of how much God loves you and wants to bless you, Read Romans 8.

So, for me, 2020 has not been so good as yet, except that I can now see to read. But it isn’t over yet, God is still in control and I am still His beloved daughter. I am waiting for the blessings. A Christian Rabbi said that the entire 2020 was the letter ‘pey’ and the picture was that of a ‘breakthrough’. Whether it is a ‘breakthrough’ or a ‘two-handed blessing’ I am waiting for is immaterial. God only wants good for His children and I am expecting only good to happen for the rest of this year. No matter what happens, this one thing I know for sure, “God is good, all the time and all the time, God is good.” He only wants us to look to Him for relief from our ills and to trust Him to provide them in His time.

May God bless you all – today and everyday.

Rev. Joyce Kaplan, M. Div. Retired United Church of Christ pastor.