READY TO DO SOMETHING?
Are you feeling the need to DO SOMETHING?
I have discovered a whole realm of new joys under quarantine. Just this week, the Lord showed me 6 ways to feel His pleasure and to experience His comfort and joy in a way that differs from my previous weeks in quarantine. Even if you are totally alone as I am this week, you can experience fellowship, the satisfaction of serving the Lord, and even optimism in the midst of your circumstances.
First, let me assure you that I understand that those of you who live alone may be having unique struggles. Because I have a suppressed immune system, I was quarantined early. At first, my son was visiting every other day, but he has had the sniffles (probably from the pollen from Atlanta’s beautiful crepe myrtles and other flowering trees), so he cannot drop by.
I was starting to feel stymied, stuck, and ready to do something more active. As a writer, I am used to spending hours in the Word alone with Him during the day, so I have continued to enjoy unhurried time with Him while the world has pushed pause, but I had begun to feel a prompting to DO SOMETHING! The Lord has given me some new inspirations about how to live my life with purpose. I am ending each day with such satisfaction in Him and in my circumstances. Let me share a few of the things He has reminded me of this week:
1. Psalm 144: 1 - Blessed be the LORD, my rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle;
The Lord did not create us to be passive human beings. He gifted us and put people in our lives to train us to use those gifts. What has your training enabled you to do? How can you use that gift for others? When God convicted me to move from just Bible study and prayer to serving others with part of my quarantine time, I felt He was asking me to inventory what I could do. I teach corporate seminars on communication, but all of those gatherings have been canceled indefinitely. I began to think of all the parents who have never homeschooled and are now homeschooling teenagers. I started last night working on a lesson on grammar I can post for that age group. I had seen many lessons for elementary age, but God has equipped me to teach the older set. It may take me some time as I have zero technical ability and I cannot vouch for the quality, but it may provide relief (maybe comic) to some weary parent out there.
What are your skills? How could you serve someone who is weary or locked down with children of various ages? God trains us to war against the enemy, but He also has trained us to do a whole range of things over our lifetime. Use what He has entrusted you with and share your gifts.
2. John 21:17b - Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”
The Lord wanted Peter to take what the Lord had deposited in Him and to share that love and the plan of salvation with others. You may not have the gift of evangelism, but right now you can show the love of Christ and what Christianity is all about to the least of these. I strongly urge you to support a local Christian ministry that goes into neighborhoods and supplies physical needs while taking with it the Good News that will feed them for a lifetime.
When my sister was a school nurse, she knew that when some children finished the free school lunch on Friday, that might be the last food they would have until Monday’s lunch. That level of hunger exists only a few miles from you. You can order tasty protein bars and other supplies a young child can prepare for himself if he has been left alone while a parent works. Ordering from Walmart.com or Costco.com or online grocers gives you the option to have that food delivered. Check out which nonprofits and ministries in your area will actually deliver the food to the most vulnerable in your community. In Atlanta, I recommend MUST Rapid Food Response https://www.mustministries.org/must-food-rapid-response or Adrienne’s Fields at https://adriennesfields.org/
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3. Proverbs 17:22 - A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
We can all use laughter right now. You do not have to be a comedian to share with a friend a funny story about what silly thing you have done in quarantine or a clean joke. Even with my very limited skills, I made a video on my phone of myself telling the silliest joke. I sent it to a young mom who is suddenly entertaining three children under seven at home. You would not find this joke funny, but it was a diversion for these beautiful, active children I love. And then I was unexpectedly blessed by the even more excellent video that they made and sent back to me. God is so good!
4. Matthew 12:34b - Jesus said that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
Are family, neighbors, online employees, and others hearing an abundance of joy and peace coming from your heart as they listen to your conversations? Thank every online person you talk to, no matter how frustrated you are with the service. I spent a total of 2 hours online yesterday straightening out a mistake my bank had made. The time was doubled because I was connected with the wrong department and had to start all over. I heard the tiredness in the voice of the person who finally answered. I thanked him for even being at work. He warmed to it and seemed to have been expecting a very different response. Be sure to bless each person you talk to so God gets the glory.
We Christians make much of the joy and peace that comes from having a relationship with the Lord; do our words spill out in a beautiful testimony to our trust in the Lord with our futures? Ephesians 4:29 states, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Are you intentionally building each person up you come into contact with by phone, chat, or any other way? You have hope and solid promises from the Lord to offer them; are you wasting words on complaining or speculating over an uncertain future? How will they see the God who is the same yesterday, today, or tomorrow if we seem tentative and uncertain? They need the evidence of our faith walked out in front of them. I resolved today to avoid references to viruses and other words that strike fear. Whenever possible, I am calling this a new day, referring to new opportunities, and getting excited about God doing a new thing in me and in the world. I may not be perfect at this at first, but I am going to focus my mind on His power and not on current circumstances.
5.. Philippians 2:1-30 - So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ...
Chase after the garbage man and give him and the crew some spare cash. They can barely keep up with the huge increase of garbage as people clean closets and cook more than ever. Send a gift card for donuts or biscuits and designate it for the hourly workers at your local water treatment department. There are people all over serving you while you may be having a slower pace. Support them and show the love of Jesus to them. With your card, share a verse from the Bible. The Word is alive and active and can accomplish much all on its own.
6. I Timothy 5:18b ...a laborer is worthy of his reward.
I have to thank my son for this one. Always a generous tipper, he has intentionally been giving even more generously for weeks. He pointed out that anyone who works for tips probably does not make much money in the first place. With possible extra expenses for childcare and with perhaps one or more in the family losing income, money would be extra tight in these homes. He is prepared at all times to give generously for any service—food delivery, landscapers, car valets, etc. Paul would agree that these hardworking folks should be making a living wage, and we Christians should help make up any differences.
What about you? What are you or those around you doing to bring light and maybe even laughter into your life or the lives of others? Or what in your life is testifying to others your complete trust in an all-powerful, almighty God who has this all in complete control?