After These Things ...

After...
After this...
After these things...
There will be glory after this...

I am sure that these phrases have formed part of our conversation at some point in our lives. We have no doubt engaged in discussions or forward planning in light of the proverbial phrase, 'before and after'.

As long as life lasts there will always be 'after seasons'. After sickness, there is either healing (whether restoration or death). After failures, there are lessons to learn. After the Biblical record of the flood, there was the symbolic rainbow of promise. After Egypt, there was the wilderness wanderings and after the wilderness wanderings there was Canaan. After these things...

This present COVID-19 pandemic, catastrophized with death of loved ones, broken hearts in families, fear and anxiety, looming financial uncertainties and the daily growing figures of death and confirmed cases, will have an after ... After COVID-19. There will no doubt be the need for support for health workers who may in some cases suffer from PTSD and panic attacks. There will be those who  relive various traumatic experiences and anxious moments. There are others who will be emotionally torn, experiencing anger and bitterness in struggling to experience closure due to the loss of loved ones. There may be even broken families who could not survive the seasons of lock-down/quarantine, because the family was already growing apart. What will your COVID-19 after season be like?

The reality is that our after seasons may not necessarily be pleasant. There can be serious challenges. After a season of dedication and hard work, you may experience job loss. Commitment to a spouse after doing everything to make a marriage work, could also result in a divorce. Genesis 22:1 tells us that after these things, God did tempt Abraham... I Kings 17:17 states ... after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. There will always be the season of 'after these things.'

The things that you are now experiencing will have an after season. God knows what lies ahead in that 'after season', that is why faith and hope in what He has said in His Word are what will carry us on and through. At the end of the all encompassing thought, 'after this life', how do you want it to end? The old Gospel song After All This Life is Over comes to my mind. It ends with the prayer, "Give me Grace that I can make it after all. Make it where or make it how, is worth some serious reflection.

Consider ... after these things!

My prayer, my desire is that we will so live that after the season of this life, eternity in Jesus Christ is something we can be sure of.