Last Friday evening I participated in my first ever Zoom gathering. (I wish I had developed Zoom!) It was hosted by Healing Care Ministries International with Terry Wardle bringing an uplifting message for these unprecedented times. I loved what he said, not because it was new, but because it affirmed what I have already been doing. Sometimes we just need to know we are on the right track.

It is imperative that we take our faith for a walk. What does that mean? It means we exercise, put into practice, the faith we claim to have in the God of the universe. It’s time to take our faith for a walk. So how does that work practically?

First, we renew our hope in God. Psalm 42 and 43 are psalms of the sons of Korah. They both express deep distress and discouragement and yet ask the question, “Why am I discouraged?” The antidote: put our hope in God again. I love verse four of Psalm 42:

My heart is breaking as I remember how it used to be: I walked among the crowds of worshipers, leading a great procession to the house of God, singing for joy and giving thanks amid the sound of a great celebration!

Psalm 42:4

The psalmist remembered times that were more “normal,” a time when he could freely go to the house of the Lord and worship. But at the time of writing, he was in isolation or quarantine in a foreign land. His memory of better times reminded him to put his hope in God again.

It’s important to remember and to renew our hope in God. Recall the way God has moved, protected, secured, provided in the past. Bring that to the forefront and then meditate on his provision. He is the same today as he has always been.

Taking my faith for a walk means I recall the goodness of God in times past. I believe that “normal” will return and, for this short and painful present, I can persevere!