Sometimes we find ourselves embroiled in things that seem beyond our ability to resolve. Like my pastor said on Sunday, “when our backs are against the wall, and it looks as if it is over!” Those times. Remember the agony of waiting for a change? Waiting for God to show up? Anticipating His moves but not being sure exactly how He’s going to do it? That is where I am today.
Now, eight months later, things are waking up again and I am grateful. I am grateful for the non-events that happened in the period. I call them non-events because they seem small, little, petty even; but deep in my heart I know, that they are important to laying the foundation of a new beginning which I am now stepping into. It is interesting how the foundation of a house is hidden, but without that foundation, the house could not stand. I think that is what has happened to me during this pandemic. My foundations were shaken and I spent the time rebuilding and repairing. I am glad I’m still here to continue the work!
I feel like this is the time to match on with fortitude. We have come this far already. We must keep pushing to a victorious ending, with hope of a much better and glorious life after the pandemic. The days are here.
Six whole months have passed! We are now in the third quarter of the year. It is a good time to think about time.
I want to look at this positively. While I may have spent six months doing nothing, I look back now and discover that a lot happened internally. While things were at a standstill on the outside of me, in my mind, a lot has been going on. I can recall the fear, which was a major battle in my mind; the discovery that my strength was small and I needed to build up on my faith and spiritual capacity; the actual engagement in prayers and study of the word, and confronting my weaknesses.
? I recently came across the concept of lamentation. Lamenting to God and telling Him exactly how I feel, without holding back or mincing words. I understand that He can take it. He can take my lamentations without lashing out at me, because He is good.
He received the lamentations of David, of Jeremiah, of Ezekiel, of Abraham, even of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. I am allowed to lament. It is healthy to do so.
So, are you expecting an august visitor? What are your plans for the last qarter of the year? Because August will fly by fast and September too. Don’t let autumn sneak up on you. Winter is around the corner. Any plans for Christmas? It may seem like a world away but it is not. That was how we looked at July and now it is ending. Dust up your plans. Get to living again. Even if the pandemic manages to slip into January, we will overcome. We will still be here to give thanks to God for life, for provision and preservation. It is not over yet!
Even in this pandemic, technology has played a major role in ensuring peopIe can still communicate, have parties, get married, name babies and have church services and prayer meetings, go to school, generally catch up with each other and not feel so alone.
Considering that airlines might have to follow the rules of social distancing, how would that affect the ticket prices? Would it be safe to sit in an aircraft for long hours with stale air circulating? What is the risk of infection? Would we feel safe enough to go touring and shopping, sitting on trains, buses and taxis? What about the risk of staying in an hotel room that may not have been disinfected?
For me, this has been a very interesting year because I have been through so many different seasons in the last six months. The pandemic on its own has added a variety of feelings and emotions that have opened my eyes to certain truths I had failed to recognize about myself and the people around me. Talk about a reset!
He will bring us out of this wilderness. He will lead us into the promised land. The day will come when we will look back at 2020 and we will marvel at what the Lord did in our lives and in the world as a whole. When that time comes, our praises will resound to Him.
In the interim, let us continue to express gratitude, praise and prayer to God, seeking and worshiping Him for the things He has done and for the things He is going to do within, in spite of and through this pandemic.
