We’re now entering seven weeks into the quarantine.
Or is it six weeks?
Or is it six months?
Or six years?
During this period I’ve experienced a full gamut of emotions. In some ways every day seems like every other day, but in other ways no two days have been the same. Some days I awaken with the urge to shampoo the carpet and peroxide the floors; other days I’m content with an unmade bed and unchallenged clutter.
Now we’re about to venture into some uncharted social waters. In stages, Somebody says emergence back to normal life is about to begin. Who’s calling these shots? Who’s pulling our strings and telling us what to believe and how to behave?
I’m not sure how I feel about this. I’m ready for a haircut and a reason to put on makeup, but then…not. Sequestered at home, I’m content to wear cozy clothes and let my hair color fade and live unaffected by the turbulent world outside my bubble.
The question I have is, what is this all about? But more importantly, where is God in all this? I think this is what most people want to know—at least the people I know. In His infinite wisdom, has He pulled us aside to be sheltered in His presence, or has He sent us to time-out as naughty children? To help make sense of it all, and to hopefully find answers, I turn to scripture where I find numerous parallels and similarities, particularly in the Old Testament. Some of the scriptures I come across seem perfectly applicable. For example, Isaiah 26: 20.
Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you;
Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation is past.
This is where we find ourselves at this moment in history. Trying to adjust to the new normal, when nobody can describe what it will be. I feel like a bomb has been dropped and we’re huddled in a bunker and we don’t know what the world will look like when we emerge.
While I’m in “hiding,” I have come to some conclusions.
First, I don’t want to miss what God is doing at this time. If there is a lesson to be learned, a perfecting of my life to make me see Jesus clearer, a shift of priorities, or anything else, I don’t want to miss it!
Second, I don’t want to return to life as usual. Seems strange to say, but some of this experience has been good for me. Something had begun to feel wrong with my lifestyle. I had time for everything, yet never seemed to finish anything. There was always pressure to be somewhere or do something, and if I simply wanted a day to be with myself I felt I owed the world an apology. Now I want to sustain the luxury of solitude and reflection and freedom from having to explain why it feels good to stay in my home. But on the other hand, I want to enjoy being productive and creative, and trying to make a difference in another person’s life. I guess what I’m doing is attempting to distill out the important things from all the goings-on.
Third, I want to come out of this a better person. In Genesis 19: 26, I read the account of Lot and his wife fleeing the city of Sodom before God destroyed it.
But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
I don’t know all the meaning of this verse, but the message I got from it was that I don’t want that to happen to me. The implication to me seems to be if I look back to the old way of living and yearn for things to return to usual, I can become dead and lifeless. A few years ago I wrote in my journal that certain people are called to be “bread and wine” for others. I asked myself, who am I willing to be broken and spilled out for? I also wrote that at times I felt used up and dried out and that I didn’t feel I had anything to give anybody. I needed to go back to the source of supply. I think this is what I’m getting from this period of isolation. I know the Lord is drawing His people aside to teach, tell, and prepare us for whatever it is He’s doing or getting ready to do next. I want to be ready. I want to be prepared. I want to be fresh and full of life as described in Isaiah 53:11-12.
The Lord will guide you continually, watering you when you are dry and keeping you healthy, too. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an overflowing spring.
Your children will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as the people who rebuild their walls and cities.
The conclusion I have is that something BIG is going on. The social, physical, and spiritual elements of our lives are being rearranged. I don’t have a plan yet for coping. I vacillate between shopping for the cutest face mask to wondering if the world is about to melt.
The second day of the quarantine, I was reminded of the way the word shelter is used in so many scriptural references.
For He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble... Psalm 27:5.
God is our shelter and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not be afraid…Psalm 46:1-3.
Let me take shelter under the shadow of your wings…Psalm 61:4.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide under the shadow of the Almighty…Psalm 91:1.
THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A SHELTER–IN-PLACE.
HIS NAME IS JESUS.
What I want to know is that I’ve weathered this storm well and my confidence in God’s protection and guidance is stronger. I also want to know that I’m prepared for the next wave that hits me, whether it’s a reoccurrence of the virus or something else. My goal is to live life with the full awareness that Jesus is in my boat…and I’m in His.