This has been a very strange and challenging couple of weeks for all of us.  It feels like I’ve been saying that for weeks already, with no exact end in sight.  So I don’t want to be repetitive or boring, but that is how it seems.  However, maybe it is understandable and even accurate.  I read one blogger yesterday that suggested this pandemic will be the defining event of our entire lifetime… even bigger than 9/11.  That is quite a statement.  If that is true, then the upheaval we are experiencing cannot be underestimated.  No wonder it is so disorienting.  No wonder it stirs up so much within us.  

We all have different approaches to life that come through both our nature and our nurture.  We are born with a unique design in our personality.  I assume that the varieties are all within the sovereign and providential work of God.  We are not all the same.  We together reveal a unity of mankind out of our uniquenesses. Then, as we grow up, there are aspects of our makeup that are embedded in us by the way we were nurtured by those who invested in our foundational experiences.  Therefore, we might find ourselves responding and reacting to our circumstances differently.  We can find the differences to be refreshing at times, but at other times, those differences can be downright irritating.

I am naturally a pretty relational type of person.  Because I value peace and unity, I can get lazy when left to my devices.  However, when faced with stressful situations, I tend to either get anxious (a weakness) or get energized (a strength).  So far, in this crisis, I have moved toward facing the challenge head on.  Though this is better than being fearful and anxious, it is not necessarily proof of trusting God.  It can simply distract me from engaging Him with my heart and to trust Him even in the midst of taking on the challenge.  As a result, I have been working at not getting so busy that I don’t take time to be quiet before the Lord and acknowledge the truth of what is going on inside me.  When I can be honest with myself, and with the Lord (and with my wife Diane), I usually do better.  When I am not in touch with myself, my energetic response could be demanding and insensitive to others.  I could totally miss whatever it is that others are going through.  They are not all wired like I am, and thank God for that because if everyone was like me, it would be a mess.

So… therefore… what now?  As these circumstances continue to unfold, we definitely will need to be filled with God’s Spirit so we can live out the core qualities that make relationships work.  Those qualities are listed in Galatians 5 (verses 22-23)……..love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 

As we are ‘quarantined’ in small groups at home there will be great times together.  There will also be times when we get on each others nerves and the fruits of the Spirit will be needed.  Remember, these qualities are produced by the Holy Spirit in quantities that we will need.  Therefore, be filling up your soul with God’s Word and surrender to Him your heart so you can love those around you well.

Three questions that you might ponder or even discuss with those around you:

1. What has the Covid-19 pandemic taken away from you and how do you feel about it?
2. What has not changed in spite of the Covid-19 pandemic?
3. What new rhythms are developing in your life that might be worth holding onto once this pandemic is over?

Enough for now.  Live well, love well, deal well, be still and know that He is God.

Kevin