Yesterday as I was kneeling to pray I found a sticky note I wrote some time ago stuck to the side of my desk. It was in a place that despite it bright yellow color, I wouldn’t have seen it easily if I had not been in that position. When I finished my prayers, I reached out to and took it in my hands. It said: 

WORKING WITH NEGATIVES TO GET A BETTER PICTURE:
God uses tragedies as a wake up call to get us to change.
You have to discern the time/season you are in.

It spoke so true to these current times. In a way, it does feel like we are in the midst of tragedies. A virus and economic downturn is sweeping across the world. Social injustices are coming to light all around us. And despite our weird outlook on things, we are still very much in the thick of it and might be for a while. 

As I read this note, I began to wonder if that’s what this whole global problem is all about. What if God is working on something? What if God is working on us, each one of us, individually?

When I got up this morning, I reviewed the verse of the day which is “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows” (Galatians 6:7). The lesson for today talked about how we can’t get anywhere by ourselves. We need to trust and rely on God to make anything happen in our lives. Yeah I guess I already knew that. But look around, God allowed one virus to knock us down to our knees and halt our very lives. It’s almost as if God put a pause on all the human motion and commotion. 

And why would he do that? Why would he allow such tragedies to hit his creation so deeply? This was the question I pondered late last night and now again this morning. What if we are all stuck in our homes, stuck with ourselves, stuck outside of our normal routine so that we can finally see something other than ourselves? What if God is saying look at me, I’m right here. This is our time, just you and me. There were too many distractions before, so I’ve taken some away. You have more time now, time to spend with me. There a no more excuses, no more pretending like I’m not here, no more pretending like you don’t need me. You can’t do any of this on your own. Take this opportunity to come to me, to come close. Let me be your center and life will flow from it.

So yeah this time that we are in is scary and sad and tragic and overwhelming and confusing, but we might just take one good thing out of it. At least I believe that maybe just maybe God wants to use this time to develop some godly habits in me. My Father has never felt so close as he has these days. Perhaps I should stop ignoring him and let him speak truth, life and love into my heart. I pray that you will do the same.

K.J. 05/22/2020