I didn’t post anything yesterday. I didn’t post anything the day before, either. If anyone was wondering, apparently 4 is the answer to how many days will it take until you lose motivation to be a functioning member of society who has dreams and plans and passions. Of course, I can make the argument that Saturday was sabbath, so I did a good thing in letting myself rest. I will rest in that! But then the 5th day happened, so maybe we’ll just say that was the day for new beginnings and I wanted to celebrate.
But, we’re going to turn it all around today and kick it into gear. It’s supposed to be cloudy all day and not get out of the 40s, so I may as well treat the day like it’s something the Lord has made and rejoice and be glad in it! (Psalm 118:24) I still have quite a few things on my to-do list that I made up when this whole forced-vacation thing started. I’ve fallen behind on a couple of projects and I really need to play catch up today.
Whatever you do, work at it wholeheartedly as though you were doing it for the Lord and not merely for people. -Col 3:23
The more time that goes by the more difficult it is to maintain the normal level of motivation that I keep throughout the times of relative normalcy. But that’s gotta change. We have to push through and let there be a rhythm to the day(s). Just because we’ve been picked up out of the sea we were sailing in, and placed into a different spot in the sea that we’re unfamiliar with, doesn’t mean that we can take our hands off of the rudder. We still have ability to see the Father off in the distance. We can still let Him be our goal.
So let’s be sure to steer the ship and not just lay on the couch and watch tv all day (or is that just me…). Let’s be of help to our neighbors. Let’s be supportive of those we find hurting online. Let’s be a blessing to anyone we come across. Remember, you may the reason someone smiles today. And, if you’re representing our King, that smile may be the reason they reach out to the Father.
Be a blessing today!
How is this all effecting you? Honestly, for me, this is kind of a beautiful distraction. No, I don’t mean that I think that thousands of people getting sick and quite a few of the dying is beautiful. That’s some cold-hearted stuff that even my somewhat muted emotional center can’t get down with. What I mean is that this social-distancing thing is a lot easier for me than it is for a lot of other people.
My wife, for example, is not used to having this little human interaction. She loves people and she loves interacting with people. She thrives on people and they give her energy. So, for her, this having to be away from people is much more difficult than it is for me. For my job I have to be around the public and interact with people all the time, and that’s really not a problem, but when I need to recharge so I can build up the energy to be able to interact with the public I have to socially-distance myself.
It’s only been a few days of this whole social-distancing and I can already feel more energy than I’ve felt in years. If I don’t come out of this with the most passion for life than I’ve ever had I’ll be surprised. This is my moment. This is my time!
But what about all of the other people? What about people like my wife who need people in order to feel the most needed? This is not their moment. This is not their time.
We all need to pray for these people. Pray that the Father strengthens them and gives them the vitality to make it through the day (Philippians 4:13). Pray that they feel their worth (Ephesians 2:10). Pray that the Father gives them a sense of purpose when they would normally feel listless under these circumstances (Jeremiah 17:7).
So, because somebody needs this, you are worth it. You are loved. You are a child of the living God and you were made in His image. Don’t let the malaise of yesterday define your tomorrow. Don’t let fear of the future hold you back from living it out. Lay down your heavy yoke and live out your newly created life.
You got this!
-WORRY-
Worry has become a way of life. We try to maintain some semblance of normalcy but the worries of the day creep in and undo the calm you’ve been trying to build.
Never worry about anything. Instead, in every situation let your petitions be made known to God through prayers and requests, with thanksgiving. Then God's peace, which goes far beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your hearts and minds in union with the Messiah Jesus.
(Php 4:6-7)
Thanksgiving is key. I know it’s hard to find reasons to be thankful when you see the world falling down all around you but you have to find reasons for joy. Just yesterday my wife and I, in an attempt to maintain normalcy, were going over bills and the medical bills which have added up over the past few months through weeklong hospital stays and various other tests starting to become overwhelming. You have to trust in the Lord. Even when it seems like there’s a pit so deep that you won’t be able to climb out of, especially with both of us being out of work because of this current pandemic situation, you have to know that you’re going to be good. And you’re going to be good because we have a Father in heaven who’s looking out for us (Matt 6:25-34). Not even an hour after it was all so overwhelming, God made His move. We got a phone call telling us that quite a few of those medical bills were going to be taken off of our plate. Halleluyah!
There’s always a reason to give thanks. Maybe it’s not always going to be so extreme and good, but you have to look for the reasons to be thankful for what you’ve been given. I mentioned a weeklong hospital stay earlier. A little over a month ago my wife was hospitalized due to developing bilateral pneumonia after having some ‘mystery respiratory thing’ that couldn’t be diagnosed at the time. It was hard to find reasons to be thankful at that time, but we had to. Over the course of that week there were a lot of trying times but each and every day we grew closer. And I thank God for that!
This was originally published on March 21, 2020, when this blog was being hosted on a different blog host provider.
Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?” And the LORD said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.
-Genesis 4:8-10
Man, this passage of Scripture really kicks you in the seat of the pants right about now. I’ll admit that there’s a part of me that thinks that our reaction to this pandemic is a bit extreme and maybe even a severe overreaction. Today is the first day that I’m on mandatory self-isolation at home and that means that I’m now being forced to not go to my job and earn money for my family to be able to survive. Outside of my natural disposition to look for the governments attempt to overreach in their power and take liberties away from us (which is definitely going on right now, whether you agree with it or not), this is a time that it’s not that weird to wonder if shutting down the economy (and, maybe, injuring it to the point that we will need to rebuild an entirely different kind economy) is really the right thing to do. But then…
“am I my brother’s keeper?”
… Well, am I? And, who is my ‘brother’?
In response to that second question I’m going to turn to Romans 12:10:
Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Outdo one another in showing honor.
(CSB)
This, at the very least, includes all fellow believers. So, what do I do with that? In light of loving my brothers and sisters in a way which consistently attempts to honor them more and more, can I really question the necessity of social distancing and government mandated quarantine based on my selfish desires and fears?
My mind is drawn to the Biblical account of Abraham haggling with God for the sake of the people in Sodom & Gomorrah (Gen 18:16-33). If, for the sake of the righteous, we can overt disaster, is it not worth it? The question which follows is, ‘who is righteous’? Well, first of all, nobody is…There is no one righteous, not even one. (Rom 3:9)
But what of Romans 5:1…
Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
(CSB)
Our faith in Jesus, our Messiah, has imputed His righteousness onto us in the same way that the faithfulness of Abraham was all God needed to save Lot and his family from the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah. But what of the numbers Abraham discussed with God?
What if there were 50, or 45, or 40, or 30, or 20, or even 10 righteous? Would God have called off the destruction for the sake of even 10? His answer is yes (Gen 18:32)! Surely, then, for the sake of my brothers and sisters who have taken on the righteousness of our Messiah I can inconvenience myself for a few days so that they can avoid an excruciating death, can’t I?
I’ve seen serious pneumonia. I’ve seen death from pneumonia. I’ve seen someone painfully gasping for what little air they were able to take in because of the pneumonia in their lungs. As painful as it was for me to watch, it's exponentially less painful to watch than it is for the person who’s trying to get that oxygen. I still tear up just thinking about it. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
Even if I catch this virus and am completely asymptomatic, and it would do no damage to me at all, my loving response to those around me has to be to do whatever I can to limit the chances that someone who would not be asymptomatic would get it.
Jesus said, “No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). And Jesus didn’t just say it, He did it. We’re not talking about laying down my life so the least I can do for my friends (and brothers and sisters) is to stay at home and distance myself from an at-risk populace for a short time. If that means my wallet thins out a little bit and I don’t have all the extravagances that I’m used to for a little while, my brothers and sisters are worth more to me than that.
So, yes, I will be my brother’s keeper.
