To think we might not be able to go to our church on Easter Sunday is extremely weird, slightly terrifying, & extremely humbling. As we journey through this season of Lent, essentially banned from gathering in person, I am beyond thankful for the technological resources at our disposal to gather anyhow during this crisis.
I’ve been really hit with how different this could be if we weren’t in a world where social media exists, in a country where freedom of religion exists. To think of the church that has to meet in secret. The Christians who are redistricted from meeting together on a regular basis, not just due to a pandemic.
This year, I started The Bible Recap podcast and have been trying to read through the Bible this year through their reading plan to go through scripture in chronological order. While I’ve missed a few days here and there & had to play catch up, it’s been a wonderfully enlightening experience. Between the video recaps (from The Bible Project) and the podcasts (from The Bible Recap) I’ve learned so much! How fitting it’s been to make this my focus this year. Since this whole thing started, I have been doing homeschool with Emma and we do a Bible lesson each day. It has been such an incredible experience watching her knowledge grow and her faith expand. I dare say we’ve been more intimately in tune with our faith as a family than before.
To think the impact of a simple virus has made our global way of life nearly grind to a halt is astonishing. To think that this is occurring in a period of time where we are called to fast & pray as we seek to know Him more is curious. I felt this way when I was pregnant during advent as well. How much more are we in tune with our faith when we are experiencing the real world implications of what we choose to believe?
It is easy to feel fearful during times like these. In fact, it would be unusual not to be afraid. Especially when we as a people think we know just about everything there is to know about modern medicine and technology. But, as Pastor Nathan put so eloquently “fear in some forms, is actually a gift of God. It is a reaction that helps us realize something is not the way it should be and spurs us on to take measures for self/societal preservation. Fear can drive us toward preparation, protection and prevention for ourselves and others.”
It’s when we let fear consume us that it robs us of hope and steals our courage. It takes our eyes off of our Creator and focuses on the unrest within creation. Unchecked fear drives us either inward toward ourselves or outward in despair. In such a time as this, where in our daily lives it seems as though we have placed our identities in so much other than Christ, it’s a keen reminder of how misplaced that sense of worth truly is. Material possessions fade. Instagram fame is fleeting. Social status is temporary. Rather, placing our hope and trust in something that never changes, and never fails is imperative. I’ve long been craving slow, simple, and good. And this season of quarantine has fulfilled so much of that longing to be in deeper connection with the One who is Good. His consistent love and mercy for His people is beyond comforting in this time of uncertainty. What a gift it is to remember that our God is the same yesterday, today and forever.
I’m challenged to remember the faithfulness of God in the past – to the people of Israel, to Abraham, and all his descendants. What a comfort knowing He is faithful to His children? I’m challenged see the opportunities these unique circumstances of social distancing afford us: to strengthen our own spiritual lives, to step into intentional faith practices as a family, to simplify our daily schedules, to enrich the quality of our family relationships, to check on our neighbors, to share with those in need, to practice generosity, and to realize we have much more in common with people around us than we recognized this time last month.
