“It was the worst of times . . . it was the best of times.” Regularly cited as one of the best novels of all time, the classic novel, “A Tale of Two Cities” by Author Charles Dickens painted a picture of what it was like to live during the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror. Enduring such times seems like an impossibility, yet leaving a legacy for all time is not dependent upon circumstances.

Dickens’ opening sentence reveals that there are two ways of looking at every circumstance. And so it is with us today. Assuredly no one knows fully what prior generations endured in their unique set of challenges of their time. Yet even in hard times, legacies emerge of people who kept their wits about them and stood firmly on God’s word and principles.

Even when the outlook seemed dismal, those who carried the light let it light their way through the hard places and persevered. These are the people we honor years later who left a legacy when it seemed impossible to do so.

Leaving a Legacy During COVID

These are challenging times we live in today. COVID has changed the landscape of all we know and experience in our culture. People suffer and some to the point of death in hospitals that don’t know how to treat COVID. Many churches cannot meet and people are separated from one another to prevent the spread of this pandemic.

And COVID has also caused families to spend more time together, people to slow down their pace of life, and revealed our need for community. Two Tales of a Pandemic. One leaves a legacy and the other focuses on the upheaval COVID causes. And God is LORD and in control over it all. “Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught” (Proverbs 3:25-26).

Leaving a Legacy During Election Season

In a matter of a week now, the next election for the President of our nation will take place. We don’t know the outcome, but we do know that God is ultimately the King in control and that “A king’s heart is like channeled water in the Lord’s hand: He directs it wherever he chooses” (Proverbs 21:1).

Leaving a Legacy During Racial Tension

The media hype surrounding racial tensions has served to intensify racial problems. But we don’t have to ride that bandwagon. Each one of us can turn the tide by accepting all people just as Christ did. “From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands” (Acts 17:26).

So what legacy will we leave and what wisdom will we gain from this unique year? Leaving a legacy for all time happens when we depend on timeless biblical principles at all times.

We can have hope in the worst of times and in the best of times.

Yours for Leaving a Thriving Legacy,

Jeff Rogers