I sat on the floor beneath our apartment window, tears streamed down my face as the phone clicked off. I had been waiting for the coming weekend for 2 months to go home to see my family. Moving away was not something that was easy for me to do. Though only a few hours down the road, my family has a bond that I just can’t quite put into words and distancing myself from them was hard for me. However, I knew that Brannon and I were following where the Lord was leading. We have quickly fallen in love with Montgomery and have started to feel at home here.
Weeks ago we marked our calendar for this weekend- the weekend I would get to go home and see my nephew, who was just starting to scoot around on the floor, eat some of my mom’s cooking, and be under the same roof as my brother and sister again. They were going to meet our new dog for the first time and we were going to lay by the pool Saturday afternoon. When we made these plans, COVID-19 was not yet a household, everyday term.
I realize that many families live with many more miles in between them than mine do. I know that most don’t see each other but during the holidays. I’m aware that one day I might live even further, but for now I’m still adjusting to not being around the corner from them all.
In the midst of the chaos breaking out into our world, my family has discussed many times all that is going on and how we should be taking the virus seriously. We even talked a few days ago about if it were still safe for us to come visit, and at the time we saw that there was no problem. Today when my phone rang I knew that my mom might be calling to tell me differently. With my sister crying in the background we talked about how it might not be the best time right now. Though we’ve all been very careful and tried to practice social distancing as much as possible, the reports just keep getting worse- we didn’t want to put our own family at any greater risk. I knew it was the right thing to do, but it was not an easy decision to make.
I don’t believe that at any other time in my life have I lived where I see the world slowly crumbling around me. Even though my family has walked through difficult days when we lost my dad, and have had some trials since then, never have I looked around and thought to myself “Lord… things look so crazy right now. I’m truly afraid of the fate of our world.” From that place of fear of the unknown, anger that this virus is keeping me from the people I love most and how it is wrecking lives all around me in much greater ways, and sorrowful for all those that are walking through this difficulty in a variety of ways I have 2 things to share:
Psalm 77:11-12 says “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old.I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.”
- Christians, we must not forget who our God is. Yes, things don’t seem very good around us right now. In the time that I have walked this earth I have been afraid of different things, but right now things seem to look worse than ever. Easily, if I allow myself to focus on the ways things look I will allow the problem define who my God is instead of allowing my God to define the problem.Yes, things are not good. Yes, we are in an unprecedented time of uncertainty. Our entire world is facing this trial. BUT, and I put so much emphasis on that but, our God is not any different than he was 3 months ago (Hebrews 13:8.) Coronavirus, though overwhelming to us, is no match to Him. He was not caught off guard, and He has not lost control.We live in a sinful and fallen world- COVID-19 is direct representation of that. As is all sickness and death that we face, they are the result of the world that we live in. They should be of no surprise to us. He tells us in John 16:33 that in this world we WILL have trouble, but to take heart because HE has OVERCOME the world.During these times we must REMEMBER who He is and what His Word says. We must not allow the state of our world, at any time, to allow us to forget His promises. So Christian- remember who your God is. Don’t hang your head in fear- hold it high in the strength of the Lord who is King of all, who even the winds and the waves obey. He has not forgotten us, may we not forget Him. What an incredible opportunity we have right now to show the world that the body of Christ is way more than just a church building.
- We must take this seriously.I’m not going to get into the details of what is going on with COVID-19, there are plenty of resources for that elsewhere. If you were to have asked me 2 weeks ago how bad I thought this would get I would’ve told you I thought people were overreacting and that this couldn’t be any worse than the common flu. Now, my thoughts are quite different.I am not the one laying in the hospital bed sick or hoping to get a test to know if I have even contracted the virus. I am not out of work (praise God!) and I have food in my pantry. But, I am being kept away from my family. We are choosing to follow the recommendations of those in charge and distance ourselves- even from each other. It Is not easy, but if it’s what we need to do in order to be able to see them for years to come, I think it’s worth it.I know how easy it is to feel invincible, to see the hurt others are experiencing and ache for them but never think that you could be the next victim. Even to this day, 17 years since my dad died, I sometimes cannot wrap my head around how my family was dealt this reality. My dad was a good man who loved the Lord, and my family was a close knit family. But, that did not make us immune to the reality of the world that we live in. It is a world stricken by sin and no person is exempt from that.It’s easy to feel sorry for those around you that are being affected by this, it will be a lot harder when it is your own family. If we don’t take this seriously, I’m afraid soon that will be the case.
A final thought: Christian- staying inside and heeding the advice of the professionals does not make you an untrusting Christian. It does not mean that you don’t have true hope in God. I happened upon this article the other day. Though it is directed to churches in general, I think it can go beyond that to the individual christian. I will not go into the detail that it discusses in full, but if you are struggling it is a good resource to look over.
Friends, please stay inside and take seriously what is going on in our world right now.
And believers, speak often of the hope you have in Christ in the midst of this storm- He still sits enthroned and we still have a reason to sing!
This post was originally shared here at rememberingandrejoicing.wordpress.com. If you have a submission that you would like to share, send it our way!
