During these last few months, we have been surrounded by fear, injustice, uncertainty, change, discomfort, disease, and death. I wish I can reflect on this time and say that through it all I have responded in a Christ-like manner at all times.
But while I cannot say that, God’s grace has been sufficient. I’ve repented often, received his forgiveness, and asked for His help to obey and follow Him during these times the way that He desires me to follow Him.
Here are 3 things God has been teaching me during this time. I pray that they encourage you as they have encouraged me.
- “Instead, they were longing for a better country – a heavenly one…” – Hebrews 11:16(a)
Many times during this season of lockdown, I’ve longed for things I used to be able to do. I longed for hugs from friends and family. I longed to go for a walk without a mask on. I longed to go sit by the beach and stare at God’s beautiful creation. While all of these things seem reasonable, I’ve realized the more time I spend longing for them, the less time I spend focused on Him – abiding in Him and following Him.
God is teaching me to “long” for Him and His Kingdom more – long for His presence, long to hear His voice, long to walk in His ways, and long to do His will. The more that I long for those things and direct my focus and my energy towards Him, the less time I spend focusing on the things of this world as well as what I do or don’t have or can or can’t do on this side of heaven. - “…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith…” – Hebrews 12:1-2
A couple of weeks into lockdown, I was feeling completely overwhelmed and mentally exhausted. I realized that every time I checked the news, social media, or my group messages, it was stealing mental energy away from me. It was hindering me from being fully present with my family and the people I minister to. And it was hindering me from being present with the Lord.
God is teaching me to be very intentional to throw off things that hinder me or cause me to sin. In this case, it was all of the media inputs at my fingertips. We’re called to think about and focus on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy (Phil 4:8). Sadly, I rarely find those things in the news or on Facebook. So I’ve drastically reduced the amount of time I even allow my eyes to read these things and my mind to process then.
God has reminded me to fix my eyes on Jesus – on what He did on the cross for us, on the way He lived His life, on the commands He has given me to obey, and on the fact that He is a risen King – now and forever. I must remove anything that hinders my ability to fix my eyes on Him and follow Him.
- “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching” – Hebrews 10:24-25
When I haven’t been stuck in my own mind wrestling with the realities we have been facing in the world, I’ve been reaching out to others in the church and community that God has placed in my life and ministry. However, early in lockdown I noticed a lot of my conversations were centered around just ensuring that the person was “OK.”
God reminded me in this Scripture that he has called us to not only be “OK” and wait for things to return to “normal”, but that we should rather be considering and giving careful thought towards how we may encourage and spur one another on toward love and good deeds while God continues to work and be active around us. He wants us to persevere and grow more like Him, especially during trials.
We are in a constant spiritual battle, and thankfully we don’t have to face that battle on our own. We must encourage one another to trust and follow the Lord into the “new” he is leading us into, rather than try to hold on and hold out for a “normal” that may never return.