Has the tension ever been more extreme? The savage loss of the way things used to be. The daily gnawing of uncertainty. The unwelcome deluge of COIVD-19 stats. The desperate clamour for some solid ground amidst the sinking sands of lockdown life. The social and economic erosion. The stealthy advance of a runaway virus.
Facing off powerlessness
Much is at stake. And much we once thought we knew now feels wobbly. The battle lines are drawn. Socially. Politically. Economically. Culturally. Philosophically.
And last but not least: Spiritually.
Our values and beliefs are being tested.
Significantly.
Testing is challenging but desirable. Because testing produces increased quality.
O Lord, we have passed through your fire; like precious metal made pure, you’ve proved us, perfected us, and made us holy.
Psalm 66:10 TPT
Without the refiners fire there is no growth.
What is the test?
Can I suggest, at the core of this moment in our shared story is the issue of change.
Do you relate to the following?
- struggling with the pain of enforced change to your way of life
- grappling with the loss of personal freedoms
- grasping by your fingertips the shadows of the way things once were
- reeling toward an undefined and uncertain future way of life
- devastated by cancelled plans and the seeming futility of making yet more plans
Perhaps more than ever before we are faced with powerlessness. Powerlessness to confront this force of unwelcome change called COVID-19. Powerlessness to hold on to normal.
Could it be that this pandemic provides a unique and a valuable test?
A test of both your attitude and also your appetite for change?
Grasping the wind
The words of the preacher in the Bible book of Ecclesiastes still ring loud over the achievements and technological advances of our time.
I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
Ecclesiastes 1:14 NKJV
I suggest to you it is a futility and a vanity to attempt to control anything.
Or anyone.
Be that a virus; climate; your neighbour; or a loved one.
Equally it is a vanity to try to hold on to the way things once were. The winds of change are blowing and no amount of grasping will stop that.
A line in the sand
Could it be that the pandemic presents us with a golden opportunity?
A necessary and redefining moment to re-align our thinking with eternal truth.
Good old-fashioned ‘repentance’.
- Jehovah God is on the throne and He is our all powerful cloud riding ‘YAH’ (Psalm 68:4)
- the works of the Lord are great, honourable, glorious and to be remembered (Psalm 111:2-4)
- there is nothing too hard for His great power and outstretched arm (Jeremiah 32:17)
- His understanding is beyond measure (Psalm 147:5)
- His purposes cannot be thwarted – not by COVID or by anything or anyone (Job 42:2)
- God’s omnipotence is established both now and beyond the fall of this pandemic (Psalm 90:2)
May the Holy Spirit lead you in re-positioning your thinking toward heavenly places. If COVID desperation becomes a catalyst for the renewing of your mind, then you have stepped yet again from conformity toward transformation.
Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in His eyes.
Romans 12:2 TPT
The renewal of your mind is indeed the birthplace for victory; for power in Christ Jesus; for overcoming; for inspired problem solving; for creative pivoting; and for open-ness and appetite toward change.
The DNA of MORE
When you gave Jesus your ‘yes’ you surrendered to a life time of change.
Jesus is the author of salvation. He is eminently qualified and competent to complete the work which He has started in you (Philippians 1:6).
But make no mistake about it.
When you said to Jesus you swallowed a growth hormone. And growth and change are inseparable companions. Show me a person who isn’t growing and I will show you a person who is grasping onto the past.
The good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is Christ in me!
The hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).
Through faith in the finished work of our Saviour on the cross we receive a totally new DNA. The very genes of Jesus Himself metabolise via our spirit man within us.
The law of decay and the erosion of sin is over.
The work of God glorifying change and increase has begun.
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the LORD, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
2 Corinthians 3:18
Praise God for a new DNA and the work of His matchless grace within us.
No obstacle or crisis can prevent His change work within you.
May you be emboldened and inspired in your journey.
