In a moment, the world stops. Everything goes on pause. Suddenly nothing else matters. Maybe it’s a phone call, a text message. Maybe it’s a government alert, a siren. Your whole world freezes. Suddenly you’re on a moving sidewalk with no end in sight. Forward. Forward. Forward. There is only one path and you are carried there.
Responding to the coronavirus (COVID-19) has felt like having a family member in ICU. You sit in the waiting room, waiting for every word from the doctor, every second feels imbued with meaning though each new second is imperceptible from the last. Your waiting matters. Nothing else matters. Sitting in this room requires all of you. Every new update feels like a little bit of solid ground under your feet. There’s a plan, you can take action. But you’re really just waiting. The doctors are doing the work.
In the times in between, you tell stories. You become an expert on your experience, giving detailed updates to friends and family. You encourage those waiting with you by laughing together, then you cry again. Laughing into tears and tears into laughter. Isn’t it funny to cry this hard? Don’t we feel silly? Crying again.
The doctors come back and give an update. The news isn’t good, but it isn’t impossible. There’s one way forward. We’re uncertain of the results, but we will try to be hopeful. Next step. Peace.
This is how COVID-19 has felt for me. As soon as reports started coming out about the severity of the situation, my brain shifted into a familiar gear: crisis. Peace washed over me. There is only one way forward.
I am an information gatherer. I will read and analyze every piece of data until I am satisfied and have a way of moving forward. While I’ve been posting stupid little things on the internet, it was only two days ago that I could say anything that felt remotely meaningful. I’m still processing how to speak about this sudden and new season.
To pick back up with the hospital analogy, it still feels like we’re waiting. Will there be more surgeries? When will we be released from the ICU? What are the long term effects of what’s happened? We don’t know and we’re at the beginning of the story.
For many of us, this is uncharted territory. What do we do? How do we move forward? What does this mean for my plans? For my life? And that’s frightening to many. It’s also sad as we grieve the loss of what we hoped would be.
But where is faith in all of this? Is it okay to be sad? Scared? Angry?
In short yes, yes, and yes. God didn’t make you to be perfectly peachy keen happy all the time. God made you to walk with Him. Take those feelings to the Lord in prayer. Take your fear to Him. Take your dreams to Him, your anger, your sadness. The Lord is here and He has not for a moment lost control.
We may not have control, we may be living in fear, but Jesus is still on His throne and He is not taken by surprise at what is happening in the world.
Christian, you have a path forward. Walk with the Lord in the midst of this. Ask the question: how best can I love my neighbor in this season? Is staying inside the best way to love your neighbor? Then stay inside. Is washing your hands the best way to love your neighbor? Then wash your hands for 20-30 seconds. Can you give to small businesses? Restaurants? Can you share toilet paper? Give of what you have, as the Lord leads. You won’t be able to be led by the Lord though if you’re not praying to Him. Do not neglect prayer, dear friends.
Christian, cling to Christ in this season. He is our peace, our strong tower, our ever-present help in time of need. He will neither leave us nor forsake us. He is faithful. He is good. Savor his character in uncertainty. You may have no control, but He is ultimately in control and knows all that you need, and delights to provide for His children. Take your fears to Him.
In times of crisis, we are confronted with our values. What have we been loving most? I pray this would be a time of deep reflection for you. As Christians, the pains of this world should be creating in us a hunger for the age to come. Come Lord Jesus, we pray! But the longing for the Kingdom to come is also what gives us deep and abiding peace in times of sorrow and hardship. We know that our suffering is limited to this age.
The losses we are suffering, and the many losses yet to come are real suffering. They are painful. But we do not walk alone. The God we believe in came as a man and suffered like us. He can sympathize with us in our weakness. He walks with us, and sent His Spirit to dwell in us to pray on our behalf with groanings too deep for words.
God knows, more deeply than we will ever know, the weight and the extent of all the pain and suffering in the world throughout all of history. The horrible, painful weight of it all, He knows every ounce and His perfect and just wrath burns against it. The Lord does not delight in suffering. But it is here now, for a time, and through it miraculously He purifies us. He strips of us things that we don’t need and grows us in our trust of Him through trial. In trial, He reveals to us things we didn’t know about ourselves: fears, pain, unbelief, anger.
Like a festering wound, He scrubs away the infection. Pain. Healing. The bone He breaks, He also mends.
As you walk in this new season, quiet your soul before Him. We will be living a different way of life for months. Life is slowing down. Take a deep breath. And again. God is in control. And if God is for us, who can be against us? Has He not sent His Son for us? Has He not purchased our freedom by His blood? He saw the horror of sin and death in the world and He atoned for it through the death of His Son. God made a way for us to know Him and walk with Him, will He who gave us eternal life not also graciously give us all the things we need?
Life has taken a shift in a direction none of us saw coming. We all have to reconsider how we will live differently now. I wanted to encourage you with some things I’m doing to help in this unfamiliar time:
1. Taking more time to read and study the Bible. If you want to learn good ways to study, join our weekly online study the first week of April. We’ll be doing a live stream on our Instagram (@theporchsav) and Facebook. Keep an eye out as we hammer out details.
2. Take time to pray. Make a list of people to pray for. Buy a book of/on prayers and learn to grow. Here’s a few of my recommendations: The Valley of Vision, Prayer by Keller, Praying with Paul by DA Carson
3. (If it’s safe where you are) Go for walks/runs and work out! Get some sunshine and fresh air. It’s good for you in so many ways.
4. Drink lots of water. I can’t tell you how be dehydrated makes me sad. It ruins everything. Drink water (the water in your coffee or tea doesn’t count).
5. Eat good food. Don’t binge because you’re stuck inside all day. As you’re able to find groceries: get vegetables, fresh fruits, simple grains, protein, healthy fats (big fan of almond butter). Enjoy learning how to cook new recipes, and meals that take more time than you normally can schedule for.
6. Savor the slowness of the life are living. Read a book, journal, start a puzzle, sew something. Take up a project that you know will take you a long time to finish.
7. Find things that help you connect to other people. I made a goal to use all of my mugs and to tag the people they remind me of (some were gifts, or purchased on trips, etc). I also downloaded MarcoPolo and have been sending an inordinate amount of videos to my friends.
8. Bathe and get dressed! Try on new outfit combinations. Clean out your closet. Wearing clothes that make you happy and feel good is so much more preferable than wearing pajamas all the time. Resist the desire to give up and get dressed for yourself.
9. Clean! Deep clean. Organize your stuff, vacuum, wipe things down. You’re stuck in your house, you might as well make it look amazing and keep you safer from sickness.
10. Let yourself feel your feelings. Don’t stuff them. But don’t let them rule you. Practice daily gratitude to God for His good gifts. There is something in every day, and as you look for things to be thankful for, the list will multiply.
Surrender your expectations to God and remember that we don’t know what tomorrow holds, but we know the One who holds tomorrow in His hands and He rejoices over His people with loud singing, so we need not fear tomorrow. Let us live in Today with eternity in our hearts.
In His grace, peace, and love,
Paige
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