Monday Meditation: Unprecedented Times?

Today begins a devotional series that I will post during these days of social distancing. My aim is to reflect on a few thoughts and draw our attention to Scripture. At the conclusion, I will leave you with some applications as well as questions for reflection.

Are we really living in unprecedented times? The world in 2020 has never been more connected globally through travel and technology. The world in 2020 contains billions more people than at any other time in history with regard to international disasters. So, in one sense COVID-19 and its implications for public health, social contact, and the global economy are unprecedented. But, are we really living in unprecedented times? The answer is a qualified yes.

Throughout world history, wars have devastated continents. Diseases have ravished nations. Consider the Spanish flu of 1918 that killed more than 50 million people worldwide. Or consider the Bubonic plague of the Middle Ages that decimated the population of Europe. Or look back to biblical history. Consider the flood from Genesis 6-9. Or look at the millions of Hebrews wandering through the wilderness for 40 years. Or explore the survival of the ancients through famine and hunger. The human race has been through things similar to this and come through them.

If we look at the flood as analogous to our current situation, you might wonder if this coronavirus pandemic is God’s judgment. Let me offer another qualified yes. We can interpret what God says, but cannot presume to read God’s mind. The Genesis flood was judgment. God said it was. God has not spoken in that way regarding the coronavirus. However, here is the qualification. Because we live in a fallen world, creation itself is under the curse of sin.

19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

Romans 8:19-21

Disease, suffering, illness, pain, difficulty, depression, war, violence, hunger, famine, catastrophic weather, and the like are reflections of the fallen, sinful world in which we live. Had Adam and Eve not sin, creation would have remained unblemished, and humanity would know none of these things. Yet they exist, because sin exists. Thus, the coronavirus is, at least in a generalized sense, an aspect of God’s judgment on a sinful world.

So where does that leave us as we cope with the interruptions, fears, and separation caused by this pandemic?

Let me offer a few specific applications drawn from Noah’s story.

  • Walk with God. God considered Noah blameless. This means Noah lived a life of humble confession and willing obedience. Take the time you’ve been given during this pandemic and develop your relationship with God. Read the Bible. Pray. Journal. Lead in family devotions. You can begin with Genesis 6-9 if you’d like and answer the reflection questions below.
  • Reflect on God’s holiness. God judged the world with the flood because the world was increasingly wicked and idolatrous. Was God’s judgment here vindictive, mean, extreme? I don’t believe so. God’s judgment teaches us that God is more holy than we can ever imagine. We like to think of God as love, and he is love. But we must remember that he is holy, supremely holy, gloriously holy.
  • Make sure you are on the ark. This sounds a bit weird, but track with me. Noah and his family were protected on the ark. While God does not promise us protection from contracting the coronavirus, nor does he promise to keep us from dying if we do, God does promise eternal life. Being under God’s protection means being in Christ. Do you have assurance of eternal life? If not, read the letter of 1 John. It’s a letter all about knowing that you know Christ. You can message me on this blog or through the social media platform I posted it on. I’d be happy to chat with you about eternal life.
  • Be faithful. It took Noah years to build the ark. He faithfully obeyed because he trusted God. I’m not sure what the next few weeks look like for all of us. But wherever God has put you, be faithful. Your faithfulness might be the courage or gospel witness someone else needs.

I would recommend reading Genesis 6-9 sometime today or this week. Then take some time and reflect on the following questions. I’ve been journaling through this experience. Journaling your answers might just be a way to build your faith during this unique time.

  • How do you think Noah felt when God told him to build the ark?
  • What kind of answers do you think Noah gave when people asked him what he was doing?
  • Describe how it would feel to have your entire family participate with you in a mission like building an ark?
  • Noah spent years building the ark, 40 days on the ark during the rain and flood, and then more than a year on the ark afterward. Do you think his experiences were always pleasant?
  • Imagine some of the sights, sounds, and smells during Noah’s time on the ark?
  • Put yourself in the place of at least one family member. Consider how they might have reacted, spoken, or what they must have been thinking. Journal the thoughts you think they might have had.
  • What kind of things do you think Noah and his family were anticipating at the conclusion of their trip on the ark?
  • How difficult would those final weeks have been with the ark resting on land, but not being able to exit?
  • Imagine their worship and sacrifice when they finally left the ark?
  • What kind of things will you thank God for during this experience and after this experience is over?

The Coronavirus Roller-Coaster

I have felt more emotions in the last week than at any other time in my life. The speed with which the world has shifted regarding the COVID-19 pandemic is mind-boggling.

I have felt fear, frustration, and exhaustion. Almost all of the time during the past week, I’ve felt overwhelmed. Rarely is anyone prepared for life to change so fast for so many with innumerable ramifications. And this is only the first true week (of what will be many more) of response and recovery.

I don’t share this for your pity, because I know that I’m not alone. I share simply out of honesty. It does no good for any of us to put on a mask or pretend to be strong when we are struggling.

Situations like we are facing today remind us how truly inadequate we are. One thing that has been immensely helpful for me in the last week or so has been my journal. I can write my prayers and thoughts before God and know that he hears.

Let me share with you 5 personal responses I wrote down in my journal the other day. They’ve helped me, and I hope they might help you process what we’re going through.

  1. Prioritize my information sources. If you’re anything like me, you’ve been reading and watching the news all the time trying to figure out what’s changing next. If we’re not careful though, our attentiveness to the news will lead to discouragement or worse. I’m not suggesting that you ignore the news either. Rather, make sure that you prioritize the timeless over the temporal. Read God’s Word. Let the assurances and promises and hope of the Bible give you calmness and confidence.
  2. Embrace my lifestyle changes as opportunities. There are no shortages of challenges, frustrations, and discouragements during these unprecedented days. There is much we cannot do, and there are places we cannot go. Instead of looking at all the negatives, embrace the changes as opportunities. We have the opportunity to pause, rest, pray, listen, and slow down. Spend time with your family. Enjoy a game together. Take a walk or a hike. Have long conversations. Read a book. Spend time with God. These moments of pause in the swirl of chaos are a blessing to embrace as much as they are a difficulty to manage.
  3. Accept that I cannot change reality. Read the next statement out loud, “I am not in control.” If the last week does nothing else, it should scream to us that we are not in control. Our busyness, bustling, and constant activity are often attempts at trying to control everything in our lives. We solve this and fix that and put out this fire. Well, this thing we are dealing with his bigger than me, than you, and yes, even bigger than all of us. We should accept our dose of humility and recognize that we are not in control. Only God is in control. To him we must turn.
  4. Pursue the presence of God. Our limitations drive us to One who is unlimited. More than ever before in my life, I realize that I need God. In the story where Jesus walked on water (John 6; Matthew 14), the disciples were rowing hard in the storm only to be frightened at the sight of Jesus walking on the water. Notice this, the disciples were in the storm watching Jesus walk on water because that’s where Jesus had sent them. They were obedient, and they were still afraid. Notice what happened next, “Jesus came to them.” Jesus will be with you in your fears. He will be with you today. Seek him. “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8). If we’re going to take seriously the message to wash our hands, we should take serious the reminder to draw near to God. You need him. Pursue him, and he will find you.
  5. Look ahead to the real future. At least for me, part of my worries come from wondering what will happen after we get through this wave. What’s on the other side? What will the socioeconomic impact be? How many will get sick? Will anyone I know and serve become a fatality? Dreading the future is a dangerous worry. But we need to look past COVID-19, past the response, past flattening the curve, past social distancing, past the socioeconomic consequences, past all these things. We need to look to the eternal future. As followers of Jesus, looking to eternity will help us overcome fear in the present. It will also remind us the desperate importance to spread the good news of Jesus to sinners who need repentance. May God help us point people to eternity.

“So we do not lose heart,” Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:16. God is with us through it all. I would love to read your feedback at how God is strengthening you during these days. Would you share how God is encouraging you with me? You can leave a comment below. Or you can comment on the social media platform that led you to this post.