A New Way: A Chance to Start Over

"For I am about to do something new.  See, I have already begun!  Do you not see it?  I will make a pathway through the wilderness.  I will create rivers in the dry wasteland."  Isaiah 43:19

What is there to say about our current state of affairs that has not already been said numerous times?  There are so many articles, opinions, and information out there that we can't possibly take it all in.  Trying to decipher truth from lies and fact from fiction.  So this blog post won't be about what science says or doesn't say.  It won't be about politics or who is right and who is wrong.  It won't be about whether to wear masks or not, to reopen or not, or which county has gotten it right and which has not.  No, this blog will be about finding hope in the Lord through this time because He is the only thing that is unchangeable, unmovable and steadfast.  This post will hopefully help shift focus from all around us to the one true source of all that is good and true and unshakable.

I have felt for some time, prior to the pandemic, that our world has been living in such a manner that is not what God intended for us.  We have stayed so busy, filling every free space on our calendars that we no longer have time for the things God says are important and vital.  We don't have time to simply be still in His presence, or to walk out in nature, not for the sake of exercise but simply to enjoy God's creation.  We don't have time to visit with friends and family, to sit and have an unrushed coffee while sharing our hearts.   We don't have time to sit with our children and listen to their hearts.  We schedule in a date night with our spouse if we can possibly manage that time, maybe a handful of times a year at best.  Months go by without a meaningful time spent with loved ones.  All the while we say "We should really get together sometime."  Or "When this or that ends, I will have time to rest or spend more time with my kids or spouse."  Or "My kids love sports and our family loves our weekends filled with games."  All the while family dinners around the table are a rare occurrence and family time reading Gods Word has fallen by the way side in the name of sports, extracurriculars  or entertainment.  We have not been spending the time God has given us wisely.  We are missing out on God's plans for us, as we keep ourselves so busy with things we think are somehow essential.  As we miss out on God's way of living life, we are surely missing out on the amazing blessings that come with the way He wants us to live our lives.  It would be like us creating something with certain purposes in mind, but this item we created had a will of it's own and decided, without consulting us, that it wanted and needed to do other things for which it was never created. Then it would get worn out and not function properly, all the while getting upset with us that it couldn't handle all the things it had taken on to accomplish when we had never intended for it to do those things anyway.    That's how we have been living our lives.  We cram our schedules full, making every excuse (in the name of plausible reasons) why we can't slow down, then wonder why we are feeling so drained mentally, emotionally and spiritually, and sometimes even getting upset with God because life is just too exhausting and we never have time for everything. All the while Jesus is saying "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you.  Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear and the burden I give you is light."  Matthew 11:28-30

This pandemic has removed our reasons and excuses for staying so busy. It has caused us to stop and see what is really "essential" and important in life.  Our relationship with God should and can exist no matter what is going on around us.  This pandemic may have closed the church buildings but it cannot close the church body, which are us, the children of God.  We can talk to God wherever we are.  In America we have the freedom to read God's Word anytime we choose and yet that is often the thing that gets put on the back burner til a crisis hits.  God longs to have a relationship with us, to commune with us through prayer and His Word.  He wants us to then be involved in relationships with one another.  The quick hello, how are you, is NOT a quality relationship.  Relationships take time.  People take time.  Meeting peoples needs both physically and emotionally takes time.  Time we haven't been giving ourselves.  We do not have anything to offer others when are depleted all the time.  We get depleted by not spending that vital time with the Lord and then we try to run our depleted selves to every event on our packed calendars and find we are irritated and exhausted.  God wants better for us than a hurried depleted life.  He longs to have our hearts.  He wants the world to come back to Him, to a founded in the Bible relationship with Him.  He wants Christians to stand up for truth, the truth that comes from His Word, which we will only know by spending time in it.  He does not want lukewarm Christianity. "But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!...I correct and discipline everyone I love.  So be diligent and turn from your indifference."  Revelation 3:16 & 19  God is giving us this opportunity to get passionate about our relationship with Him.  If you are able to be passionate about anything in life, then you are capable of being passionate about the Lord.  He didn't create us to be passionate about entertainment, or sports or celebrities or any of the number of things we choose to devote our passions to.  He made us to be passionate about Him and His Word.  We should get excited about the things of God, to the point we have to share it with others.  (Little side note here, unfortunately many Christians have given Christ a bad name.  They are like the pharisees who Jesus was nothing like.  They condemn, judge and hold grudges.  They spew hate and unforgiveness toward those that don't keep "the law" and that is not what being a Christian is about.  God calls us to acknowledge when something is sin but also love people right where they are, just like they are.  You cannot do this on your own.  You must be in God's Word and let him change your heart so you will be able to both call sin sin and love people without bitterness or judgement.  That's something only God can make happen in your life!)  "Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.  Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God." 1 John 3:18-19

We have this once in a lifetime opportunity where we are being forced to slow down.  God is giving this opportunity to turn back to Him, to discover the freedom that comes from a relationship with Him, from living life His way.  We cannot waste this time! It would absolutely be to our detriment to waste this time God has given us.  If we rush to get life back to exactly the way it was before then we will have learned nothing.  If we fill our porches with online purchases, and spend time reading all the various articles, either furthering our fear or bolstering our opinions, if we waste the days longing for the old way of life, if we refuse to change at all, then we will have missed the point.  We will have missed an incredible opportunity for growth and much needed change.  In our hurry to reopen everything, please don't be in a hurry to rush back to jam packed schedules and rat race exhaustion.  Look for God in this, discover His purposes for your being here.  Learn how to be still whether or not you are being forced to!  "Be still, and know that I am God!  I will be honored by every nation.  I will be honored throughout the world."  Psalm 46:10