Hello friends, I’ve missed you. For the last six months I’ve barely written a word except for journaling a few random thoughts. I feel like I’ve been adrift in some kind of Covid awareness coma.
Yes, this has been, and still is a weird year like we’ve been dropped into the middle of a never ending episode of The Twilight Zone. (For the record, I am not a fan.)
Many friends tell me this season has been one of great spiritual growth. I’m happy for them. For me, it’s been a time of great spiritual struggle, that frankly, caught me off guard. This struggle left me feeling empty and distanced from my safe place. It shook my sense of security, magnified the loss of certain freedoms, and left me feeling helpless to control any of it.
Maybe you’ve wrestled with one or more of these as well. However, the flip side of this struggle is, it hasn’t been without benefit. Let me share with you what I mean.
Security
When my kids were young, once a year, their school had something called opposite day. This school day was as the name depicts. Everything was opposite. The students wore unmatched socks, clothes inside out, they wrote their names backward. Anything to make it fun.
As I write this we are still living in opposite year and it’s been anything but fun. Things we normally think morally right have been deemed wrong. What we have thought in the past to be unlawful is now being condoned. I don’t have to elaborate on this as you are living through this opposite year as well. This has shaken my sense of security, turning it on its ear.
Freedom
The freedoms we take for granted like, going to church, walking on the beach, or even walking up whatever aisle we choose in the grocery store were taken from us. What we went along with as good citizens, believing to be temporary, at the same time were being touted as the “new” normal. My new normal cloud followed overhead weighing me down with a suffocating heaviness.
Making a Difference
Add to the mix the chaos I saw play out on the news every day (I know what you are going to say … don’t watch it). It stirred my righteous anger and at the same time left me with a sense of helplessness. The fixer in me wanted to do just that, fix something, anything. Watching our country and the world churn out of control was frustrating knowing I had no control to stop it.
What’s a Person to Do
When I don’t know what to do, I go back and do the only thing I know to do. When I’m lost from home base, I go back to basics. For me it’s the acrostic for a home staple, PB&J. But my PB&J isn’t peanut butter and jelly. It is, pray fervently, bathe in Scripture and just praise Him — praise God for the good, the bad and the ugly.
Now, this may not sound hard to do, however, when we get derailed by circumstances we don’t always feel like doing any of it. But going through the right motions eventually brings the desired emotions.
Getting Back on Track
Getting back to basics, through much prayer and searching God revealed to me that I never lost my security, I just misplaced it. Instead of relying on Him, I was putting faith in the counterfeit security of comfort. Comfortable can become uncomfortable in a hot minute. It’s not reliable or dependable but our God is. Psalm 62:2 says, “He is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress; I will not be shaken.” (Also see Psalm 16:7, Psalm 125:1, and Psalm 103:19.)
Finding My Freedom
The day they took the x’s and arrows off the aisles in Publix, shopping became a pleasure again (the tagline for the store). After my first purchases free of wrong aisle guilt, I went home with a giddiness I hadn’t felt in a long time. The weight was lifted, the heaviness gone (no kidding). I was quickly reminded that the freedom I was feeling pales in comparison to the freedom I know in Christ. John 8:36 says, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” And 2 Corinthians 3:17 says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.“ (Also see, Galatians 5:1, Ephesians 3:12, Acts 13:38-39.) And no one, not the government, Covid not even Publix can take that from you or me.
And control? To think we are in control of anything is our own folly. God is sovereign and in control of all things. It may feel like we’ve been dropped off in the middle of The Twilight Zone but in reality we are somewhere toward the end of the book of Revelation. We are living it out. And yes, we can make a difference. We can pray. Pray for our leaders, pray for our neighbors, for God’s will to be done. I Love the verse in Revelation 22:20 that says, “He who testifies of these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’” Let us pray, Lord Jesus, come.
Finally, praise Him in all things. And that brings me ultimately to the benefit of this spiritual struggle. I am thankful for this challenging time as it has led me back to the basics and my safe place — home base. The place where my security can’t be touched, my freedom can’t be stolen, and prayer changes lives all day every day.
Looking forward, pressing on and trusting God in every bump and twist in my road.
Hey Y’all, if all this 2020 stuff has gotten you twisted up I’ve got something that will help you unwind. It’s a great new novel called A Very Bavarian Christmas, by Katie M. Reid. I can’t wait to get whisked away in this exciting, funny, happily every after adventure set in Bavarian Falls. Just what the doctor ordered.
Also, Katie is offering a free book club kit for you and your gal pals when you purchase 2 or more copies of her novel.
