Starting almost a month ago, our lives began to change like
never before. I remember riding in my
car when I saw the first text message telling me that Kate’s soccer was
cancelled for the rest of the season.
Then, I remember standing in my kitchen preparing dinner when I got the
call about schools being cancelled.
To
my amazement, more changes came quickly - churches cancelled, gymnastics
cancelled, baseball cancelled, no eating inside restaurants, grocery stores
swamped, news channels showing death numbers rise and an economy that was
collapsing. Like many of you, I went through several emotions – shock,
disbelief, questioning, and even, depressed and fearful. I remember one Friday
night barely sleeping and then waking up the next day feeling so empty inside
as I thought – what are we going to do today? It’s the weekend and we have
nowhere to go, no one to visit, and negative news everywhere. I allowed this
fearful, depressed heart to control me for a few days until suddenly I had
enough. I actually got angry! Angry enough to cast the feeling of fear and
doubt out of our house by praying through the power of the Holy Spirit.
God changed my focus that day – the news is not allowed to
be on in my house and social media is limited. As a healthy way to fill my
time, I listen to podcasts that include preaching and teaching of God’s Word. As a family, it is a priority to read the
Bible together every day, sometimes several times a day. As we clean the house and do chores, we turn
on K-love and sing. I, not only pray and read the Bible first thing in the
morning, but also read my favorite scriptures before I lay my head down at
night. I converse with God all day, asking Him to make me aware of His presence.
After these changes - one month later, our family is
thriving. We are at peace. We are laughing together. We are growing closer
to God together. We are getting physically stronger through exercise. Our yard looks beautiful. Our new trails are
cleared out. We are resting well. And…we are waking up each day excited about
what the day will hold. Our family had to make a choice – fear or faith. We chose faith! We chose Jesus!
Through diligent prayer and studying of God’s Word, I am
confident that this virus will Passover my family – both immediate and extended
family. I am trusting God’s Word (both
His biblical Word and promises that He has spoken to me personally). With this confidence comes a peace beyond
what I can explain and I am so thankful.
But…I fought for this peace. It
didn’t come without making changes in my life.
Think about our lives before this pandemic – were we (me
included) really putting Jesus first in our lives or were we worshiping the
gods (little g)/kingdoms of this world?
This world has kingdoms in it that have taken the attention away from
God for a long time. I’ll name a few - sports,
media, education, and religion (not the true followers of Jesus but the form of
religion where people gather as a social event on Sundays only). For many
years, these kingdoms of the world have taken priority over our focus on God.
They have ruled us by captivating our time, our attention, and our focus.
Anything that becomes a bigger focus than God is an idol. Do these worldly kingdoms have some good in
them? Yes! But, we have idolized them
and put them ahead of the only Kingdom that will remain standing in the end –
God’s Kingdom.
At this point – at least temporarily, most of the kingdoms
that I listed above have fallen or are shaking. But, God’s Kingdom – God’s true
believers – the Church – those of us with a personal relationship with Jesus is getting stronger.
The scary part is the only other kingdom that has not been
shaken but has been strengthened is the media.
Many people are allowing it to control them, brainwash them, and to
instill fear in them. I am telling you –
if you want to rid yourself of fear and depression, turn off the news! Stop letting the media rule you. God, through
the power of His Holy Spirit, will tell you all you need to know!
This crazy time where the parts of life that we have
“worshipped” are not available is a wakeup call to the body of Christ! God is
calling us to use this time to strengthen the Kingdom of God in our households,
and to strengthen our personal relationships with Jesus so that when the other
Kingdoms begin to build up again, our desires and focus will remain on Jesus.
This “quarantined” time should change my generation’s way of
parenting forever. A schedule based around chores, Bible, and prayer time
should forever take precedence over a schedule around sports and entertainment
desires. A questioning of a school’s decisions and disrespect for teachers
should forever be replaced by a thankfulness for all the school staff. A lackadaisical mindset of “We might go to
church today if we feel like it or if the ballgame isn’t too early” should
forever be replaced by “Praise Jesus we can congregate together and worship our
awesome God. We WILL be at church!”
God is using something that the Devil began to
raise up a generation that trusts in Him again and focuses their lives on His
purpose, His protection, and His strength.
Don’t miss this time to work with God to strengthen His little warriors
that we have been blessed to care for.
As Miss Patty Cake says, “Every day is a patty cake praise day!” As a
family, turn off the news, put down your phones, and read God’s Word together,
pray together, and praise Jesus for all the precious people in your house right
now. Our kids will always remember this time in their lives. It’s up to us as parents to determine….will
they remember fear or will they remember peace, love, joy, and time with Jesus.
The daily decision is in our hands….
Coming soon, I envision parents, school staff, and students
crying and embracing in car lines and bus stops. I envision churches full of
people on their feet, with hands raised in thanksgiving and praise! I envision athletic fields with fans of both
teams sitting together as they talk about God’s goodness. This unprecedented
time in US history will pass by the grace of God. But, will we forget and move back into our
old ways of life?
In the Bible, the Israelites forgot all that God had done
for them and began whining not long after they were freed from Egypt. With this “forgetfulness” of the Israelites on my mind, God
has shown me a few scriptures that have spoken to my heart and now, my prayer
is this…
Holy Spirit – help us not to forget! When this all passes,
may we be changed forever – never returning to our old way of life. May we never return to a life of worshipping
the idols of other kingdoms and filling our schedules with selfish agendas but
instead may we continue to grow in our relationship with Jesus, constantly
leaning into Him and being led by His Spirit.
In Matthew 9:16-17 (Jesus says) – “Besides, who would patch
old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from
the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before. And no one puts new
wine into old wineskins. For the old
skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so that
both are preserved.”
After reading these verses, the Holy Spirit began to show
me, personally, how I (and us a family) cannot go back to our old lifestyle. We
have to continue to recognize the newness that Jesus brings. A relationship with Jesus doesn’t “patch” up
the old self but gives us a new self. It is our responsibility to walk
completely in that new – staying next to Jesus.
If we do not, the “new” born again us will spill back over into the
world instead of growing more fervent and fruitful IN Jesus. To preserve our Spirit, we cannot put our new
born again Spirit into the old flesh. We can’t live our old lifestyle and
expect Jesus to do new things in us and through us!
In Matthew 12:43-45 (Jesus says) – “When an evil spirit
leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. Then it says, ‘I will return to the person I
came from.’ So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order.
Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all
enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than
before.”
During the last month, we have been emptied of evil
things. What I mean is we have been
emptied of distractions – emptied of the world pulling us in every direction
BUT the direction in which God is going. Not long from now, these distractions
will return and they will return in full force – ready to, again, pull us away
from God. I am praying for my family and for your families that you not let
that happen. Use this quiet time now to
fill that “empty” place with God’s Word and presence so that you never want to
be pulled away again.
As I have said, I believe this season we are experiencing now is a wakeup
call for all of us. I believe that after
all of this virus stuff is gone, the choice that we make – whether to follow
the world or God – will determine our eternal destiny. These difficult times
(or worse) will return one day. Next
time, will we be spiritually ready? On Sunday, our pastor preached an awesome
message that included a strong warning from God. When you have finished reading this blog, I
encourage you to come back and listen to this powerful message here….
In the Old Testament, God told Jacob to move his family to
Bethel. Genesis 35: 2-4 says, “So Jacob told everyone in his household, ‘Get
rid of all your pagan idols, purify yourselves, and put on clean clothing. We are now going to Bethel, where I will
build an altar to the God who answered my prayers when I was in distress. He has been with me wherever I have gone.’ So
they gave Jacob all their pagan idols and earrings, and he buried them under
the great tree near Shemchem.”
Like Jacob, I am so thankful for the way that God has
answered my prayers during this time of distress. One of the best parts of my
day during this “quarantine” is going for a run. During this quiet time with God, He has
comforted me with visions of how He is protecting my family, my neighborhood,
and my friends. He has comforted me with scriptures and sent messages to me in
the perfect timing. I have drawn near to
Him, like I was years ago. I’ve repented for allowing distractions to pull me
away from Him. When this waiting period is over and it’s time for me to “pack
up” and head back out into the real world, I want the pagan idols (worldly
kingdoms) to stay buried. Will I be able to physically bury them and avoid them
altogether? No, but I can bury them in my heart so that they are not a priority
in my life…..the priority will remain Jesus.
My prayer today and for the days to come is that every person reading this has found peace in
Jesus during this difficult time. If you
have not, turn to Him and He will comfort you.
Most of all, I pray that every person reading this will still be leaning
into Jesus next year when life has been back to “normal” for a while. Oh, God, may we never forget what you have
done for us and what we have learned.
Grow YOUR Kingdom in our lives above all else….ALWAYS!
Love,
Toddy
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