I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!
- Mark 9:24b
What are you believing God for in this time?
Normal is on pause, but God is still at work. God is doing something new and different in this strange “in-between”.
In all of this uncertainty, with all of this extra space and distance, it feels like God is rearranging things, calling things to the surface, and making central those thoughts that ordinarily occupy only the distant corners of our minds. I see him revealing things unseen or unnoticed before. I say this because I see this in myself, and I’m hearing similar things from other people. God is revealing things to us that we never would have seen otherwise.
Think about it. Hasn’t God pulled back the veil a bit? Hasn’t he made us all more aware of our intrinsic fragility? Hasn’t he shown us more of our mortality? Hasn’t he pulled down our “gods” of financial security, care-free living, and a relatively easy life? We see things differently, and I would say we see more clearly than we did before.
But, please don’t hear me saying that I'm loving this time; social distancing is kind of the worst. But, it has given us one invaluable gift－space. It’s a space like we’ve never had before, enforced and life altering. All of a sudden, we have room in our schedules to address those bigger questions about purpose and the meaning of life. We’ve had time to consider our lives, our patterns, our priorities, and the very fabric of who we are. The quieter voices in our minds have become audible without all of the clamor of "normal". And, in regard to this new revelation, I want to say that maybe we’re better for it.
I say that because God never misses out on an opportunity. He’s working good even now, in this time. I believe he's using this time of distance and uncertainty to draw us to himself, to show us his goodness, and to strengthen our faith. I’m hoping and praying that this time of revelation would lead to a time of revival. We’ve all seen the reality of our own fragility and the falsehood of what we previously had depended on. So, I’m praying that this time would create a longing in us for something sturdy and true. I pray that we would stop relying on those uncertain, fragile things and instead start really trusting in the only reliable certainty－God.
- Natalie Abbott
Here some questions we need to ask ourselves right now:
> Are we going to lean into God's purposes for us in this time?
> Are we going to grow in our dependence on him?
> Are we going to pray with expectancy for God to work in and around us through this time?
