How will we make it through Covid-19?
NEVER GIVE UP: Week 5
Have you ever had a defining moment but didn’t realize it at the time? Mine came in the form of a causal invitation to encourage a volunteer leadership team on the eve of their women’s retreat. A dear friend and mentor, Tammy Chapman asked if I would share a brief devotional to help prepare her team before they launched their retreat. I had never done anything like that before but I was young (as in 22), naive, fearless, and didn’t think anything of it.
Interestingly the passage I used in my devotional nearly twenty years ago, is how we will conclude our Never Give Up series.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
I think it is fair to ask after reading our present troubles are small and won’t last, “What wisdom we can glean from these verses to help us make it through COVID-19 so that they see small and like they won’t last?”
Here’s what stands out to me from these verses.
Live one day at a time.
Look for where God is working for us and not against us.
Lean into the invisible.
Our first encouragement in this passage is that even though our bodies are declining overtime (and don’t we know it!), our spirits are being renewed every day. There is a reality that taking it one day at a time that frees our minds from the “if then, well then” fears. Because usually when we get on that train it just leads us to Anxiety Station instead of Union Station, am I right? At least it does for me.
But if we choose to live one day at a time, we begin to silence the fears of the future and start to ask God for what we need to get through the day. It might sound a little like “Father, give us today, our daily bread,” from Matthew 6.
Our second encouragement is to look for where God is working for us and not against us. Paul, the author of our passage held one belief in the core of his being. He was convinced that his trails were working for him. That he and his faith were growing and expanding. And if we can set our outlook to see how God is working for us, through us, and in us, it will help us persevere.
Sure nothing feels good at the time, as of course I did grow up on the “Happy Meal” mentality. But I pray that in the words of James from chapter 1, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”
Our last encouragement and truly our greatest challenge is to fix our eyes on the unseen, to lean into the invisible rather than the visible.
When I used these verses in that devotional for the women’s team, I knew that we would be very focused on the details of the complex event we had just planned for over a hundred women. Yet I felt this challenge in my spirit that we need to ensure we wouldn’t get carried away only thinking and executing details but that we would see the details God was executing too. That we would have eyes to see the way he was pursing the women. What he was up to. When he wanted to change the plan for a specific purpose.
In a moment like this, we can ask the Lord to open the eyes of our heart to see what he is doing. To see those in need. To reach out to those who don’t have his hope. But if we can fix our gaze, we will end up seeing things and stepping into realities that will last forever! When we fix our focus, we will finish strong.
Each week in the Never Give Up series revealed ways we can pursue God in our present times but here is what we can rest in as we conclude.
He is pursuing us. He is reaching out. Working for us. Fighting for us. Moving mountains for us. We will never strive more in pursuing him than he has sacrificed in pursuing us.
So as you lay your head in bed later today, rest in the reality that he has, is, and will always pursue you. There is no end he hasn’t gone to reach you and he stands ready to help you come alive to him, again and again and again. We can never give up because he hasn’t ever given up.
Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns (Philippians 1:3-6).
I have been blessed to take this journey with you, if you have been blessed please share this blog with another, Say Hello or leave a comment below on how God met you. Next week we start a new series and I am excited to share with you some inspiring friends and their beautiful hearts!
Reflection:
1. Do you find it easy or difficult to live one day at a time? Explain.
2. Think back over the last 24 hours, have you seen any ways God has been working for you and not against you? Write them down.
3. Where are you eyes fixed these days? How could you fix your gaze more on God in the days and weeks ahead?
Response:
Father, would you help us come alive to you over and over again. May we see you and fix our gaze on the unseen. May we see you at work for us and not against us. Help us live in the moment and take it one day at a time, for who added a day to their life through worry. We are yours and we want more of you so come. Quicken our step. Embolden our faith. Awaken our souls. We love you! And all God’s kids said, Amen.