You know those times where your human ability has hit its limit and all you can do is sit and wait. Those times where your world has flipped upside down and you have to put all of our trust in God because there is truly nothing else we as finite humans can do. Whether you have already experienced those times and you know exactly what I am talking about, or you have not yet, there will come a time where you can physically do nothing but wait on the sovereign and good power of our God.

I am currently sitting on my bed in Los Gatos, California in the home that I grew up in instead of sitting by the Fluor Fountain at Biola where I usually write my blogs because right now as I type I am in one of those situations where I am waiting on God. And my guess is that you are in a very similar situation. I was asked to write about a time where I needed to wait on God before our lives changed due to this virus, and I have many examples of the times where He did radically change me as I waited on Him. Yet this crisis seemed more pressing to write about now. This semester was not supposed to be this way, nor was it supposed to end this abruptly. In a matter of days my life was completely turned upside down, as I am sure it did for you as well.

What started weeks ago as precautions to COVID-19 turned quickly into the necessary action of transitioning classes online, cancelling all events including my beloved Mock Rock, restricting gathering sizes of individuals, quarantines, and the inevitable evacuation of all students from Biola back to their homes in the middle of the semester. My story is no different than my friends and my peers. We all feel robbed, we all feel hurt, and we all cried. Like a lot. I had dedicated months and months of time to planning and coaching a Mock Rock team for that event to be taken away weeks before the performance. My international internship that I had been dreaming about and planning for this specific summer since I was a senior in high school was taken away. I have to say goodbye to friends and loved ones for six months, and say goodbye to seniors all of a sudden and I do not feel ready for it. I even drove all the way home to Northern California with the intention of coming back to Biola after a week to wake up on my first morning at home to read that I need to drive back to Biola and officially move out. My heart, as well as the hearts of everyone else’s on campus is broken. We feel robbed.

Right now, literally everyone I know is essentially forced to sit inside their homes and wait. We are waiting on God, and I have never felt that more tangibly than I do now. There are so many different ways that we could respond in this moment. Everyone in the world’s life right now has changed in a drastic way- and the only one capable of changing every single person in the world’s life right now is God. And that fact does not scare me, yet rather it gives me comfort to know that we serve the most powerful being in the entire universe. We serve the sovereign, good, fiercely loyal, maker of all, forever loving, pursuer of His children, prince of peace, king of kings God of the universe -- and we can tangibly see that He is in control.

I do not know what tomorrow looks like, my days have never been more uncertain. Less than a week ago I was leading Mock Rock practice and business was usual. And now here we are. The fact that I do not know what the world looks like tomorrow means that truly the only thing I can do is place all of my hope in Him. Friends, this time for you and me is scary and confusing. But I know that we are in a time of revival. We are in a time where we have mandated rest and distractions are taken away. Here is the thing I have learned about waiting on God- He has never failed me. When we wait and put our trust in the ultimate being and creator of the universe, how will that fail? Life seems uncomfortable right now, but friends I would challenge us that in this time of worldwide crisis and panic, it is a time for us as Christians to take action and be literal vessels of hope and light when the world so desperately needs it. When we wait on the God who holds all the power of the universe and who is high above any virus, we do not need to give into the panic and frenzy of the world, for we serve the God of peace.

I am waiting on God to figure out how to make this adjustment and how to find a sense of normalcy amidst change and heartbreak, and I am sure you are too. May you be encouraged that you are a Child of God and have nothing to fear. May you feel the call to be light bearers in all ways to those who are anxious and panicked. May you be able to be unified in the body of Christ though we are a part physically.

We are waiting on God right now, yet I know that there will be multiple times, especially as you transition into college where you will be waiting on God. Take heart, for the God of the universe is on your side. We are not supposed to know all things and we are not supposed to figure out all things, that is His job, not ours. In the future, when we have to wait on Him, may we remember that He has already planned the way that He will deliver you before you have even stepped into battle. He has already planned our deliverance from COVID-19 and He has already planned your next deliverance as well. When you wait on the truth of the universe, you will not fail.

Wait on Him, friends. And read Psalm 46, it is a good one. Praying for us all.

With Grace,

Anna Gus




Banner Photo by Mona Eendra on Unsplash