#Beyond COVID-19

It’s easy to get lost in the crisis of this pandemic.

When we’re blindsided by something so horrific, initially, we lose our bearings. It’s as if we’ve been tossed into a cosmic tornado and for a time, we brace against the spin, trying to stop the pressing motion or we clamber up the sides trying futilely to escape – grasping only at wind.

Where are you, God? Have you suddenly lost sight of me trapped inside this twister? Is my voice lost in the storm? Are my prayers blown away by the force of this trial or lost in a sea of other voices crying out? Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop.

But, we are incredibly well-designed to withstand the worst this fallen world serves up on its buffet of sin and death. And so, before long, we yield to the force of the storm and we begin to sort truth from fear. No longer able to orient by circumstance, we remember our true north and begin to navigate by Jesus, the bright Morning Star. (Revelation 22:16)

Every generation of believers faces its own pandemics – war, famine, locusts, fire, ice, genocide, disease. And our loving Father visits these disasters on His own people as well as on those who deny Him. We are not all spared.

Yes, there are miracles. Yes, He stands with us. But, yes, some of us will fall. Because there is always a greater story, there is always a truth that extends beyond the virus, beyond the plague, beyond the oncoming wave of death and we are called to live that truth – sometimes as we die.

Our greatest challenge as individuals is not that our lives don’t matter – it’s that they do. It isn’t that we’re insignificant, it’s that our significance is hidden from us. In this current pandemic, that lie is exposed, is it not? You and I, as small as we are, as ineffective as we sometimes feel, we – individually – have incredible impact and influence on the world.

The choices we make – unimaginably simple choices – whether or not to wash our hands, cough into our elbows, drive to the store, gather with friends – the choices we make contribute to the spin of the tornado or to slowing it’s spin and diminishing its force.

Simple choices we make right now, in the privacy of our isolation, known only to another loved one or maybe to no other human, will also have global impact. Will we orient by the daily briefing or by the eternal Word of God that does not change? Will we tune into the 24/7 livestream of impending doom or attune our hearts to the One who still hears us, even above the voices of a million reporters screaming across the airwaves of a million channels. Will we seek our own comfort and escape by binging on false idols – food, worry, alcohol, substances, entertainments, and the like or will we be present with Jesus even now?

When the ancient tribe of Israel faced an overwhelming enemy set to destroy them, God found Gideon hiding in a winepress, beating precious wheat out of sight of the Midianite warriors. Even in our best hiding place, God sees us and knows us as we truly are.

“And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, ‘The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.’ And Gideon said to him, ‘Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.’ And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” Judges 6:12-14 ESV

And in Christ, are we not mighty men and women of valor? And do we not echo Gideon’s questions to the Lord? And is His answer to us any different than it was to Gideon – has He not sent us to the people of this age? Will our choices now not have an impact beyond COVID-19, beyond the age of coronavirus, into eternity?

One day soon, this pandemic will end. Like every tsunami, it will at some point recede and leave us to rebuild what has been lost. You and I, however, are eternal. We will outlast this storm. We will extend beyond the wind because we carry within us the mighty wind of His Holy Spirit with a force of life greater than any death that visits the people of our time.

We can be His warriors in this storm. We will weep with those who mourn. We will cover in prayer those on the front lines. We will speak truth against every lie. We will answer fear with persistent love.

We will represent Him as we outlive this scourge or as we die from it. But even if we die, we will die with His name on our lips, testifying with our last breaths so that as we step through the door of eternity, others will be freed in Christ to follow.

Even as we are separated from one another, we are not alone. Let us rediscover that truth in this time and celebrate our recovered memory. Let us press in to the One who will never leave us alone, even in death. Let us lift up the name of Jesus with courage and with joy.

If we quiet ourselves, we will hear Him singing over us because He is greater than the wind of this pandemic, He is greater than our fears, He is with us in the spin and on His Word, we rise.

#BeyondCOVID19 https://t.co/Y1UsAFgH0j #Jesus Where is God in this pandemic?

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) April 2, 2020