It is easy to get swallowed up by our current circumstances.
It’s not hard to spend these Coronavirus pandemic times constantly engulfed in press release after release. We sit idly, waiting to hear the newest confirmed cases count, checking our phone for updates on lockdown policies, and learning about the next celebrity with COVID-19.
We tend to worry about the future during times of crisis. We live in a society where we are used to being able to generally predict what tomorrow or even a month from now will bring into our lives.
We get so stuck in the present that we tend to stagnate and not create new goals. Life becomes a hazy dream. We just spend our days wondering when we’ll wake up instead of considering who we could be once the crisis is over.
It is a lot harder to have a direction when life feels uncertain. That’s why it is so important to have signposts in our life that we know are unshakeable. In light of that, what better foundation do we have than Christ? He is the cornerstone that our Father laid so that He can build His people into a “spiritual house” for the glory of God (1 Peter 2:4-8)!
We look to Christ who empathizes with our human struggle.
The direction that Jesus is leading us toward though is not easy. It might be unwavering, but appears altogether impossible. Sometimes we look at Jesus and think He is not relatable. He set an incredibly high bar that we have no hope of reaching.
We ask, how can such a perfect person set the tone for someone as fearful and directionless as me?
Well the truth and the good news is that we are not called to BE Him. We are called to follow Him. Jesus Christ is our example, not our final form. It’s important to remember that He suffered as much and far greater than any human has ever suffered. We look to Him because He understands our doubting, our hurt, and our uncertainty. Jesus participated in the human experience.
Christ is our guiding light, in good times and in bad. We get to look to him when the Coronavirus sweeps through our cities, takes away our jobs, causes us to be isolated from society, and bombards us with messages of fear. He is not diminished in any circumstance. He is not held back by chaos. He already triumphed over the greatest calamity of human history (sin) to pave a way for us to live. He has revealed the direction, all that is left is to follow in His footsteps.
Walking in that direction is not without struggle, but once again, we are not alone. We believe in a faithful God.
Our God restores, confirms, strengthens, and establishes you.
This was true when Peter wrote his first letter to the churches and remains true today. The disciple who often struggled the most to humbly follow Jesus wrote the book of 1 Peter for a people he was preparing for the suffering that would come. He wrote:
“Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good ...And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” (1 Peter 4:19, 5:10).
Peter preaches hope in God during these uncertain times. When we entrust our lives to a faithful God, He gives us the ability to find our direction in Christ. Even if you have spent the past two weeks a complete wreck: struggling to focus, lacking patience, riddled with anxiety, and afraid, God will be there to help you turn it around when you ask Him.
Despite difficult circumstances, Peter’s expectation was that his brothers and sisters in Christ wouldn’t stop acting the way God asked them to.
The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 4:7-11)
Suffering wasn’t an excuse for worldly living. Suffering was a sign of Godly living. Coronavirus or not, we get to “keep loving one another earnestly”. At the beginning of chapter 5, Peter’s insists that the leaders shepherd the flock in spite of what was to come. When the anxieties come, entrust them to the caring God we serve and continue moving forward.
Practically Speaking?
Take advantage of the circumstances you are experiencing and leverage them for the glory of God! We don’t have to sit idly by, waiting for life to change before we can continue to grow and pour into others. There are opportunities now to grow in our relationship with our heavenly Father and help others find their direction in Christ. Tell others of the hope you have in Christ. Demonstrate care and show interest in the discipling relationships that God has placed in your life.
Be creative. Be bold. Picture what it would look like for you to come out of the other end of this trial as a more mature disciple of Christ. Pray for strength to act on the necessary steps to move forward in the direction of the God who wants to use you for His own glory.
“[Hear] the true grace of God. Stand firm in it” (1 Peter 5:12).
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