Washington Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

By Doug Bing, Washington Conference president

When the word first came from the Governor of Washington that we were to Stay Home and Stay Healthy, the weather was not bad.

The sun was out and after each long day of being on teleconference calls with many different groups, it was nice to go out into the sunshine and go for a walk. The stay at home thing frankly didn’t feel that bad. And I wanted, like most people, to be part of the solution and not the problem when it came to helping defeat the spread of the coronavirus.

This week has been a different story. It has been cloudy all week with very little sunshine. Yes, we live where it is cloudy all the time and most of the time I am quite used to that. This week I have not appreciated the clouds at all. Until I was reminded of an Old Testament Bible verse. Isaiah 44:22 says, “I have blotted out like a thick cloud your transgressions, And like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”

Now when I think of the clouds that are covering the sky, even today as this is being written, I reflect that the clouds are good things and that they are a great reminder of what great things Jesus has done for me and you. He has blotted out our sins. He sees you and I as redeemed.

No question—we live in uncertain times. Many people in our state have clouds in their lives. Very real things that are hard to deal with: Illness, death, loss of jobs, loss of homes or loss of businesses. These are storm clouds that are looming in our world and may be very present in your life. There are clouds in the world as well. The economy has ground to a halt, politics are clouding people’s minds, clouds of war and shut borders are all things that are suddenly even more real than just a few weeks ago.

Yet, no matter what evil clouds are stalking us and trying to blot out our view of God, remember the cloud that God uses to blot out our sin and make us redeemed. This is the best cloud to remember and the best message we can share with those in our community in real and practical ways during this time of crisis.