Blessings in the Midst of a Pandemic

God’s peace is total well being

A few weeks ago, I decided to read through the Bible. I had thought about doing it several times, but had always been in some kind of Bible study that took time. One of the good things about our schedules being cleared by the global pandemic we are experiencing, is that we have time for things we couldn’t do before.

This morning I read Numbers chapters 4-9. Believe it or not, there are some really good stories in Numbers. In Numbers 6:22-26, the Lord told Moses to instruct the chief priest, his brother, Aaron, to bless the children of Israel with this prayer:

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.”

The footnote in my NSRV Study Bible says, “The goal of God’s blessing is summed up in the final word, shalom or peace. [The Hebrew word, shalom,] encompasses God’s good gifts of health, prosperity, well-being, friendship, justice, and salvation.” In other words, what to us, in English, means freedom from conflict, means, in the Hebrew language, total well-being.

One commentator noted that this blessing is the only prayer written by God in the Bible. In this prayer that God composed, we see He wants to bless us, His children. He wants us to have His peace - health, prosperity, and salvation. Whether we are care free or hearing bad news through media channels daily, we can receive the priestly prayer blessing from God’s Word.

How do we receive it? We start thanking God that we have it. Then we move to praising Him for who He is. We visualize ourselves and our families experiencing this peace. This is just faith in action, and it works.

In the face of COVID 19, I thank my God that His blessing is there for us, and I am taking time to receive it.