Seeking Christ In The Space Created During COVID-19
by Rev. Tanner Fox
“This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’”
Jeremiah 6:16 NIV
[Many of these reflections have come to mind after reading John Mark Comer’s book, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry. If you have some time ;) I recommend buying and slowly reading the whole thing.]
For some of us, COVID-19 might feel like a moment to catch our breath and a welcomed relief to the high velocity days we have been living for as long as we can remember. We are tired, sick of being busy, longing for deep, abiding rest. The truth is, however, that much of our busyness is self-inflicted. We have become addicted to a pace of life that keeps us moving and doing every hour of the day and although we feel that it is killing us, we secretly can't imagine life without it. We are culturally-acceptable hurry addicts, burning the midnight oil and chasing the sun up so that we can achieve and succeed, to be worth something, or to own something just a bit bigger or shinier, or to be someone we hope to become. All the hurry we were used to has changed. Maybe not mentally. You may be stressed even more than you were before COVID-19, but a number of the things that we hurried to and from have been taken away.
Just a few things that come to mind…
Endless Social Gatherings - Parties/Fundraisers/Events
Brick & Mortar Shopping
Sports - Watching/Coaching/Participating
Concerts/Theme Parks
Extracurriculars for Students
Normal Work - Meetings/Travel
Many of these things on the list kept me busy. I would bounce from event to responsibility without thinking much about what it was doing to my soul. But as I shared in January during my sermon on rest, I felt exhausted. I couldn’t ever catch my breath or catch up on all the things, and many of you resonated with my feelings and told me so, and said you too were exhausted and yet we were still having trouble slowing down, and then… COVID-19 happened… And much of the things I was hurried to do were taken from me and I thought. “What if God is using this season to slow us down?”
I don’t say this to minimize the seriousness of the season or to pontificate a silver-lining in the midst of utter chaos. These two things are true, COVID-19 is tragic, and the Lord is present. I am asking you to pay attention to what He might be saying.
Personally, I am coping with the reality that I am a hurried person. I think I relate busyness to my worth. I think I delight when people say, “I can’t figure out how you get it all done.” I think I love to say yes, even when I desperately need to say no. I like to list all the things that I do to justify my paycheck. I worry that others think I don’t do enough. I compare my efficiency and effectiveness to those around me and always seem to lose. And I think God wants to quiet my heart and give me rest from all this nonsense. So, if you feel any of these ways, maybe he is speaking to you too.
Isolation has meant space from many of the things and people I love most. It has also meant space for things that I forgot I needed.
A few that come to mind...
Space for prayer
Space for serving
Space for resting
Space for silence
Space for reading
Space for creativity
Space for nextdoor neighbors
Space for worship at home.
Maybe a lot of these items are things you have been asking for. Maybe your work is crazier than ever or maybe your kids won’t give you minutes of silence during the day. But I suspect there have been moments of stillness. Moments when normally you’d have to rush out of the house to make it to the next _______, and instead, you realize that you have nowhere to be, and maybe the lack of something to do makes you sad, and then you have to decide what to do with the space and time that you have.
Sometimes this sort of space can be scary. I remember the first time I tried to practice solitude and silence for a day and by 11 am I literally felt like I was going to go crazy. I couldn’t handle being useless and alone in the presence of God. Later my friend, Bret Allen, told me that Henri Nouwen described solitude as the, “furnace of transformation.” What I had hoped for in solitude was peace and stillness and what I felt was a disruption in my soul, like I was heating up and dying to escape! But there is a neat story of three men being tossed into a furnace and instead of burning, they are met with the presence of Jesus.
Indeed, as we come away from the rush and hurry of life, as we seek the Lord and remain in the furnace, the impurities of our hurried souls melt away and to our delight, Jesus shows up. He comforts us in our anguish and reminds us that what is being burned away are old habits and rhythms that kept us from delighting and resting in him.
Here are some ways to seek Christ with the space you might have during COVID-19
Pray. Be honest about and willing to engage your emotions with the Lord, but submit them to the truth of Scripture and the abundant life Christ affords us.
Journal. Take time to reflect on your feelings and experiences. Put it on paper and pray over themes, events, circumstances, desires that you see in your writing.
Confess. Spend time confessing your sin to the Lord remembering the words of 1 John 1:9, that he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness!
Read the Psalms. They cover the whole scope of the human experience and emotions.
Practice the Prayer of Examen. This is a good opportunity to invite the Lord to speak to you about moments you may not have realized were affecting you, and a good way to process emotions you are aware of.
Worship. Sing songs to God, praise him by reading his word and speaking of his goodness and mercy to you. This will actively reorient your heart to the Lord!
Seek community. Be honest about where you are with your closest people and invite them to pray with you and for you. God ordains the Church to be His body!
We have a unique opportunity to delight ourselves in the Lord in the coming days. We have an opportunity to slow down and reflect on who we are and who we would like to become. Will you slow down and ask, “Lord, what are you saying to me?”
To our First Pres church family, I love you all very much and look forward to being with you again when this season has passed.
Thanks to Alexa Rossi and Christina McDaniel for helping to write and edit this post.