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Entries in Pandemic (3)

Thursday

May072020

Upgrades from COVID-19

Cathy Horning has a tender heart toward the Lord, receptive to His voice and eager to respond with trust and obedience. In this Spiritual Life UPGRADE, she writes about how she prays the Lord will transform her life because of the coronavirus.

“At the writing of this post,” Cathy says, “our beloved California is waiting on edge for the surge of COVID-19.”

Like many other Christ-followers, I (Dawn) have been contemplating the changes God might want to make in my life as the crisis of the coronavirus passes. Cathy encourages us to make those thoughts more concrete through prayer and intentional choices.

Cathy continues . . .

By the time you read this, hopefully, we will have passed the crisis, and life as we knew it will begin to get back to normal.

Although, my prayer is that we will never be normal again.

COVID-19 took most of us by surprise. It turned our lives upside down, at best, as it devastated hundreds of thousands, at its worst.

To be honest, besides the fear of sickness and death, finances and what the future would hold, my family was part of the population who were merely inconvenienced by the stay-at-home, shelter-in-place, six-foot-separation quarantine that our leaders ordered.

However besides their disruption to my days, these restrictions revealed a lot about my character, my spiritual condition, as well as how unprepared I was.

My prayer is that once the constraints are lifted and our freedoms are restored, my life will have been upgraded by the COVID-19 Refiner’s fire.

I hope I will be:

Less set in my familiar and comfortable ways,
More Christ-like in my attitude and actions, and
More prepared and fully equipped for future curve-balls, crises and trials that will come our way.

1. I want to be MORE GRATEFUL.

I hope I will never again take for granted everyday conveniences like stocked grocery store shelves, hand sanitizer, cleaning supplies, toilet paper and the people who make it readily available for us all.

I never again want to assume I will always have the freedom of hugs, coffee shop visits, and family times and outings.

2. I want to be A WILLING SERVANT.

Being stuck at home revealed to me how selfish I am, and how rigid my routine.

I want to be willing to serve others, as if I was serving Jesus Himself, in big ways and small ones, in the comfortable and, especially, in the uncomfortable and inconvenient.

I don’t want to grumble and complain that I must cook and clean more, because there are people at home—all the time—to take care of.

3. I want to be MORE PREPARED and PROACTIVE.

I intend to be more conscientious about and purposeful to not shut out the needs of others, which I realized can happen tucked away safely in the cocoon of my own world.

I will strive to be more connected with my neighbors, to reach out to those in need, and to be aware of and available to help those who are homebound, sick, or hurting.

I pray to walk so closely with Jesus that I can be used to meet the unspoken and unmet needs of others.

When life returns to normal, I pray there will be an upgrade in my life.

What do I want to see?

I don’t want to be haphazard and wasteful.
I don’t want to be resentful or disgruntled when I’m asked to serve in inconvenient ways, times and places.
And, I don’t want to close my eyes to or look away from others' needs.
I don’t want to hang my hope and trust in everything working well or going right or staying the same. Nor do I want to live in fear. Instead, I will live my life filled with faith, led by the Spirit, and more prepared and purposeful to share my faith and my life.

Luke 12:35-37, 42-44 (TPT) says,

'Be prepared for action at a moment’s notice. Be like the servants who anticipate their master’s return…They are ready to unlock and open the door for him at a moment’s notice. What great joy is ahead for the awakened ones who are waiting for the Master’s return!...

A trustworthy and thoughtful manager who understands the ways of his master will be given a ministry of responsibility in his master’s house, serving others exactly what they need at just the right time. And when the master returns, he will find that his servant has served him well. I can promise you, he will be given a great reward and will be placed as an overseer of everything the master owns.'

Today, and every day—disaster or not—I hope and pray my upgrades from COVID-19 are that:

I will be more grateful;
I will be a willing servant; and
I will be prepared and proactive.

What upgrade has COVID-19 made in your life?

Cathy Horning has been a women’s ministry leader, Bible Study teacher, speaker and writer for almost three decades. She loves the Word of God. Nothing brings her greater joy than encouraging women how to walk in God's ways. Cathy is a popular speaker, blogger and writer, as well as a beloved wife to her husband of 37 years, mom to four, grammy to 13, and spiritual mom to many. She is the author of Letters from a Mother's Heart—Timeless Truths from One Mom's Journey. Read more about her on her website.

Graphic, "Thank You," courtesy of Chrystal Elizabeth at Pixabay.

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Thursday, May 7, 2020 at 9:36AM

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Tuesday

Apr212020

Community in the Time of COVID-19

Dawn Wilson

Morgan Farr is a strong voice for biblical truth and practical Christian living. In this Spiritual Life and Ministry UPGRADE, she reminds us of the strength found in Christian community, especially during tough times like the coronavirus pandemic.

"Social distancing and isolation can be incredibly lonely." Morgan says.

"Many people all over the country are feeling the strain of Covid-19 on their lives and relationships. But it doesn’t have to be that way!"

I (Dawn) have watched lonely neighbors struggle during the coronavirus pandemic. This isn't the time for Christians to hunker down, but rather to reach out to them. There are ways to safely minister to others—especially to the "household of faith" (Galatians 6:10).

Morgan continues . . .

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said,

“Every Christian community must realize that not only do the weak need the strong, but also that the strong cannot exist without the weak.

"The elimination of the weak is the death of fellowship.”

The good news is that we live in an age of incredible technology, allowing us to still communicate despite the separation!

As Christians, we should still have the best community out there.

Here is how to maintain community during the Covid-19 social distancing without needing fancy online technology or computer access.

1. Make a List.

The very first thing I did to prepare for social distancing was to make a list of all the people that I wanted to stay in contact with. This list included people from my Bible studies, moms from our homeschool co-op and distant family members.

I have:

a list of people that I text every single morning,
a list of people I text on Sundays, and
a list of people that I am sending snail mail to multiple times per month.

Who can you reach out to today?

2. Set an Alarm.

A list is great, but how do you remember to look at your list?

I set an alarm on my iPhone labeled “Text the Love” for my daily check in,
I set an alarm for “Love on the Lord’s Day” for the Sunday texts.
I set an alarm that just has an emoji of a snail for naptime on Saturdays to write my letters and cards.

When the alarm goes off, I do the activity.

No pauses; no snoozing the alarms.

3. Reach Out.

If you are feeling lonely or having a hard time, do not hesitate to reach out to people in the body of Christ.

I know the diaconate at our local church is working tirelessly to be available to the church via phone, Zoom, FaceTime and more.

Titus 2:2-8 says,

"Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.

"Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.

"Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

"Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled.

"In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us."

If you are in need of someone to talk to, contact your local church, and ask to be put in contact with an elder or deacon.

Let the elder men and women of the church love and instruct you. It is what God has called them to do!

Finally, in this time of social distancing, don’t distance yourself from God.

Maintain your quiet time,
be in the Word of God every single day,
memorize scripture, and
pray as much as you can.

This is a scary time for many people, but for the followers of Jesus Christ we know that this is just a part of the story, and that it is all in God’s hands!

Who can you reach out to today?

Morgan Farr is a Texas-loving, succulent-cultivating, book nerd. Stationed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, this Army wife is working to better love her husband, develop her three (soon to be four!) small children, and learn more about homeschool. Morgan is a homemaker dedicating her time to ministering to other Army wives through Bible studies, one-on-one mentoring, and physical training. She writes about her transition out of feminism and into biblical womanhood at The Forgiven Former Feminist.

We Will Rise!

Dawn Wilson

Julie Sanders cares about helping women think biblically. In this Easter UPGRADE—in the midst of a pandemic—she helps Christians focus on our future in Christ.

“Can you remember a time when everyone was thinking about the same thing?” Julie Sanders says. “Right now, we’re all tracking the same information and asking many of the same questions.”

Yes! With the Coronavirus coverage, I (Dawn) am on the same page as many Americans—but not always from the same perspective. As I move toward Resurrection Sunday, I want to be sure I am thinking biblically. And that’s exactly what Julie encourages us to do with this post.

Julie continues . . .

Daily, we watch to see where lives are impacted by COVID-19.

We wonder if we’ll get it and, ultimately, if we’ll die.

So much about life is uncertain.

We never envisioned watching Easter Sunday services online from home.
We never envisioned obeying government “Stay Home” directives.
We never envisioned daily briefings on the lives lost.
We never envisioned people passing away alone, without the presence of loved ones.
We never envisioned THIS LIFE.

As we celebrate the Resurrection, we have questions. There’s so much we don’t know about life and death, yet there’s so much we’re sure of.

No one lives forever; we will all die one day. (Hebrews 9:27)
No one knows what tomorrow brings; we don’t know when we’ll die. (James 4:14)
No one is alone when they die; God is with us in death. (Psalm 23:1-6)
No one can defeat death but Jesus; one day this will be over. (Revelation 21:4)
No one can be separated from God’s love; Jesus guarantees it. (Romans 8:38-39)

This weekend we celebrate the sacrificial death of God’s Son Jesus, leading up to His history-making, life-changing resurrection. Christ secured a chance at life for all of us.

Not even disease or death can rob us of the gift of life.

While sin secured our suffering, Jesus secured our salvation.

Every person wondering how this Coronavirus will change their life has the chance to receive eternal life.

Because He rose, we will rise.

WE WILL RISE!

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.

For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

Therefore encourage one another with these words (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

COVID-19 reminds us of the limits of our knowing and our controlling.

This Easter, we approach the celebration of Christ’s resurrection victory over death with fresh comfort, gratitude and relief. We may not know what tomorrow holds—life or death.

The same One who sees every tear is also greater than every disease, even today’s disease. His battle on our behalf lets us face tomorrow with a certain hope. We will rise.

How does the global crisis of COVID-19 change how you look at the death and resurrection of Jesus this Easter?

What does His life mean for your life? How will that look and sound in your attitude, in your words, and in the expression on your face?

Julie Sanders loves lifting women who lead globally. She’s the author of The ABCs of Praying for Students and Expectant, a devotional for new moms. Julie finds joy in helping women discover and develop their gifts to influence others. She writes from her online base at juliesanders.org.

Graphic adapted, courtesy of Luis Galvez at Unsplash.