Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Its the End of the World as We Know It (and we'll be fine)

Social media, mainstream media, family conversations, all center around the drastic changes we have seen in the last 2 months. We have reached the point where we've had enough. We can all handle disruptions to our lives for a few weeks, maybe even a month, but as we reach the 2 month mark it feels unbearable. Tempers flare. Accusations fly. Stubbornness unfolds. Fear unfurls. We want our lives back.

This has been a different experience for our family than it has for most others. For the most part, nothing has changed. There are fewer things on the schedule. Groceries are harder to come by. We are eager to see any face other than each others. But our day to day has changed very little. You see, what the nation is going through now, we did 2 years ago.

It was a text message, an upset stomach, an email, then finally a phone call which flipped our world upside down, stripped away every expectation, distanced us from each other, under-minded our financial security, and locked us at home. It was the end of our world as we knew it.

But we are fine. 2 years later, still dealing with the consequences, we have a new normal and we are fine. Eventually we will be back together. Eventually we will be out and about, active in church and community again. It will never be the same. Never.  That will be fine.

What I see going on around us now is exactly what I went through 2 years ago. Fear. Anger. Blame. Self-doubt. Facts. Figures. Regulations. Legal rights......
"Its not fair."
"What about my rights?"
"What about my needs?"
"He should do the right thing!"
"How are we supposed to afford this."
"Just because they say we have to doesn't mean we do."

It didn't change a thing. It couldn't change a thing. None of it was in our control.

When life feels out of control, when it is unfair, when people in power are making decisions which adversely effect our lives, our capabilities, and our freedoms, there is grief. It looks like anger. It looks like being resigned. It looks like many different things - but ultimately it is grief. We must grieve the life we had, and begin foraging into a new normal.

As someone who has been through this recently, I learned a few things about going through a crisis:

1 - God is ultimately in control. It doesn't matter who is in the Oval Office, sitting on Capitol Hill, in the governor's chamber, researching at the CDC, patrolling your local street, manning the ED, stocking grocery shelves. God has placed each and every person there for "such a time as this". There is no such thing as "non-essential". God has placed you and every other individual where they are in this moment of history for a specific reason - and those reasons may surprise you and them. There is no decision made, law passed, regulation lifted, test developed, shelf remaining empty which does not work in His plan. So rest assured, no matter what, God has this.

2 - You are not in control and you do not have the answers.  Maybe that seems obvious, but we need the reminder. God does not work on our terms. He does not do things primarily to make our lives easier, or preserve our freedoms, or keep us healthy, or provide an income. He does not work in our time frame, through the means we think he should, or toward the ends we believe to be right. The sooner we admit and live as if we do not have the answers and we cannot control the situation, the sooner we can trust God and begin to see things as He does.

3 - The sooner you can chose to accept the worse possible outcome, the sooner you can work toward the best solution. I don't mean that as quietly sitting back and watching the world go by. I mean accepting the worse thing you can think of happening, the worse you may not have thought of happening, and nothing you or anyone else does can stop it, yet knowing, believing, and acting as if it will be okay. Once you do that, once you rest in the knowledge that no matter what "it is well with my soul". It is easier to think clearly, plan productively, advocate justly, and live fully. Not that there won't be bad days or weeks. Not that there aren't times to demand change and justice. Not that we should not keep pursuing truth. But that even in those endeavors, you are at peace with whatever the outcome. Those things are done with love, grace, compassion, and humility. You can fully love God and love your neighbor no matter the cost.

4 - Be prepared and willing to change in ways you don't want to. We all want to go back to our lives, but they are no longer there to go back to. Even if we opened up the nation tomorrow with every job intact, store stocked, and hospital staffed, it is never going to be the same. Our lives, our loves, our priorities have changed. The harder we hold on to the past, the harder it will be for all of us to make a way forward. There will be changes we love and ones we hate. There will be changes we never thought we would see, and others we wish would have happened. There will be pleasant surprises, and bitter disappointments. In it all, we each have the choice of how we will respond, how we will change. Will we become angry and bitter? Will be blindly accept whatever happens? Will we love our neighbor first, ourselves first, God first? Will we dig in our heals, or adapt?

I have no idea what the future will bring. Maybe we will be a socialist dictatorship by the end of this. Maybe we will regain liberties lost over the decades. Maybe the economy will boom stronger than ever, or maybe it will fall apart. Maybe we will have a deadly resurgence, or maybe this will become a tale our grandchildren laugh at wondering why we were so afraid of this virus. In the end, it doesn't matter. Possibly the most important lesson I learned through my "end of the world" moment was what Paul meant when he said, "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Phil 1:21 ESV)  This world is not about us. It is about Christ. My life is not about me. It is about Christ. I have nothing to lose in this life and everything to gain in the next.

The children and I have talked about the possibilities of the world's events and how it, and our own saga, will end. We talk about what will happen if Mommy gets sick, if Daddy can't come home, if we can't go on vacation, if libraries and parks don't open, if the Constitution falls, if...., if...., if..... I hope they always remember just once thing: No matter what, God is Sovereign. No matter what, you are loved by a God who gave everything for you. No matter what, even if it is the End of the World....

It is well, it is well with my soul.

So we'll be fine.










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