The lockdowns are over. People are coming out of the security of their caves and joining the rest of the human race. Restaurants are up and running. County and state fairs will be open this summer. Festivals abound. Art shows, live theatre, concerts in the park are alive again. We are all so eager to be normal, but exactly what is normal?

This past weekend, my little town of Anoka, MN, had an event called River Fest. It included food trucks, antique flea markets and people mingling all along Main Street with parking at a minimum. The local brewery and wine bar were open and full to the brim with visitors. On the Highway coming out of Anoka, at least 150-200 motorcyclists were participating in a race for military veterans. Another town right next to us was holding their own event called a Fun Fest. A parade and bands marched through the city and booths were set up along the way to introduce the citizens with area businesses. Today, my husband is attending an art festival in one of the parks and I imagine there will be many folks looking to buy art or just breathing in the excitement of being with others. It seems that once the restrictions were lifted, everything went back to the way it was and then some.

Are we setting ourselves up for another season of Covid. The variants don’t seem to respond to vaccines. The drug companies are again scurrying around trying to change that. Masks are no longer required unless you have not been vaccinated. Soon there will be a giant bonfire to rid ourselves of those breathing restrictive little face coverings. I’ll be right there to light the fire.

Churches are back to indoor worship services. Retail stores – small and large – are now reaping the benefits of those stimulus checks. Kids are getting ready to go back to normal school in the fall. Are we ready for this sudden, swift re-entry into the world of the living? I think everyone is very eager to be with others. We’re so finished with living in isolation, yet is it really safe to go into the water? The conspiracy theorists are already looking at the pandemic as a political ploy for both sides of the aisles. Though the numbers of deaths from the CDC and individual family experiences remain. I don’t think this could’ve been anything but a pandemic and maybe even one of the signs of the end times. Now we hear of droughts across the plains, which will cause prices to rise for grain and meat. The locusts haven’t appeared yet, nor the frogs, but don’t be surprised if they do.

I don’t know what to believe, other than the fact that God is still the same as He was before this whole thing happened. He’s the same as He was when He delivered the people out of Egypt. He’s the same as He was when the Titanic went plunging into the depths of the sea and wars broke out in various parts of the world. He will be the same when He decides to end this world. We can count on it. We don’t need to live in fear of that day. It only leads to a better place with no more war, sadness, tears, disease or sin. In a world that is constantly changing it’s reassuring to know that we have One in control who never changes. His Word, the Bible also remains the same, even though newer translations arrive over the years..

Change can be for our good in many areas of life, but consistency in the things we put our trust in can only be achieved through the Creator of the world. He knows what will happen next. He’s already arranged it. He has a perfect will and when we have faith in it, we will know how to be still and know that God is our rock and salvation.