Will you choose to grow in the next 30 days of sheltering in place, or will you simply try to “get through it”?
These days of isolation have been challenging for many of us. Our family has chosen to take the order to stay at home seriously and outside of my family I haven’t been in physical contact with anyone for almost three weeks. I can’t imagine how those who live alone and having no physical contact must be feeling in these days. I’m particularly concerned about those in our congregation who don’t have technology to be able to communicate.
Sidelined Entertainment
It is amazing how quickly all entertainment can be sidelined in our lives. In less than a few days all sports were cancelled, leaving sports talk radio hosts scrambling to figure out what to say. All of Broadway and most live Television production was reduced to people making short videos at home. Movie theaters, bowling alleys, and even birthday parties have been taken off the calendar. The things that we used to distract ourselves from real life just ended abruptly.
All meetings and coffee dates have been turned into Zoom video calls and FaceTime. Our face to face time has all but evaporated. When we are conversing with people, staring at our little screens, it’s been difficult to discern their body language.
As our busy lives and noisy surroundings ground to a halt – there has been silence.
For some of you, the silence is golden, and for others it is deafening. Introverts were being feeling filled up but imagine now they are probably wishing they could have some “people time.” Those of us who are extroverts are using technology the best way we can but feeling a low-level depression and a longing for meaningful person to person interaction. However God wired and created you, this socially challenging time has all of us feeling out of sorts.
How do we grow in this season?
In a season like this, some of you will be tempted just to figure out how to get through it. I would like to suggest that this is a season to grow in spite of the circumstances. One of the ways that we will finish well as Jesus followers is that we are committed to remaining life-long learners.
Since so many of the distractions in your life have been removed, what will you do to grow in this season? Most of your excuses of being “too busy” have gone out the window. What are you intentionally doing to learn, to stimulate your mind and heart in this season? How are you using this time as a gift instead of viewing it as a curse of boring days to get through?
In the next 30 days you have the opportunity to develop some really good, healthy habits. Let me suggest a few things you can try to engage your heart and mind.
- Reading your Bible every day. With resource help on the internet to understand what you have read, it’s a great time to pull out that dusty Bible and start reading.
- Praying for others. When we get our eyes off ourselves and our own situations, our perspective changes dramatically. Make a list and pray through it every day.
- Listen to new songs about Jesus. With tools like YouTube, it’s easy to be able to discover new worship songs that you can sing that will lift your heart and your head to heaven.
- Write a note. Think about those who aren’t using technology and write them a good old-fashioned note.
- Deliver a care package. Not everyone can get out and get groceries. Maybe the Lord will reveal to you what to put in a care package and put in on their porch, then ring the doorbell and wave at them from the sidewalk.
- Learn how to do something new. I’ve been watching YouTube videos to learn how to do all sorts of things around our house. I even learned how to get a nail gun unjammed this week by watching YouTube videos.
- Invent a competition. Mimi and I have been doing puzzles together, competing on who can put them together faster. It’s good for your brain and fun to do together. There are online games, even on your phone, that you could do with others, such as Words with Friends.
- Make a funny video. We have been making funny videos at our house that are silly and that have no value except the fact that they make us giggle. Perhaps we will post them online for you to see and giggle as well.
- Spruce up your house. There’s something very satisfying about fixing things that are broken. We have been touching up paint, patching walls, finishing some baseboards and making our backyard look beautiful. Often, learning how to do things and fixing things around your house can stimulate your brain.
- Pick up that old guitar. Maybe you haven’t played your musical instrument for a long time. This would be a great season for you to pull it out, dust it off and try it out!
- Learn a foreign language. Mimi and I have both been studying French for the past two months. She has studied every day for more than 60 days! We are using the Duolingo app on our phones. It’s free and it’s helping our minds to develop.
- Write. Some of you need to begin to write down your life story as a way for your testimony to be heard and your family to be blessed. (Don’t wait until your last three days on earth to try to do this). Poetry and songs often flow out of us when we have time to think, feel, dream and imagine more.
These are just a few practical ideas on how you can remain engaged in learning, growing, and bless others while you shelter in place. Don’t miss this “pause” the Lord is giving to us to grow and develop new habits to prepare our hearts for the next season.
So, will you choose to grow in the next 30 days of sheltering in place, or will you simply try to “get through it”?
If you missed last Sunday’s message on the Prophetic Culture, click here to listen to the podcast or watch the video.
Join us this Sunday for our livestream service at 10:30am on our Youtube channel or our Facebook page.
