Restrictions. Lockdown. Pandemic. Social distancing. Sanitiser. Our new normal.
They are all words that are so familiar, having taken on new meanings in the past 15 months. The fact that our children know them so well shows how much we have all been impacted. Whilst we know that here in Australia, we have been relatively unscathed, many countries have fared much worse than we have. Yet the disappointment of changed plans, impacted relationships, affected lives and increased fear is still very real.
The uncertainty of how this week’s lockdown announcement will impact plans in the coming weeks is a reality. Over the weekend my thoughts ranged from: Do I cancel everything? Do I shift things to Zoom? Do I rush out now and buy that laptop I’ve been eyeing off, before things are locked down? Or at least all the toilet paper I can find? Do I juggle full time working from home with two very active sons who demand much of my attention? And when will we get to meet our new nephew, now that the next two weeks are spoken for?
And COVID aside, life is full of disappointments. Unrealised dreams, cancelled holidays, an unexpected diagnosis, difficult relationships, misunderstandings, lost jobs, accidents, pain, heartache.
The only expected thing about life is that you can expect the unexpected.
Things rarely go as we plan them and whilst we can complain and whine and find it difficult to get through it (and yes, I certainly do a lot of this), we can also be confident that there is One who sees our life and knows exactly what we are going through.
So, how did we find this joy, no matter what comes into our life?
We can start by shifting our eyes to have an eternal focus. It changes everything about us, including how we react to life’s disappointments. It doesn’t change the circumstance, but it puts things into the right perspective. It reminds us that we are not the ones in control. We are not the ones who have all the answers. We are not even the ones who know what will happen tomorrow. It also reminds us that there is a very real battle happening between good and evil, so acknowledging the circumstance and shifting our focus helps us to not get bogged down in it.
We can remember who we are and whose we are. Having confidence that God has put us in this time and place in order to fulfil His purposes will remind us that our lives are not our own. We live with a much larger focus and a much larger purpose. We are not defined by our disappointments (or our achievements, for that matter). We are defined solely by the Sovereign and Holy God who made us.
We can also live a life of gratitude. Whilst my sons do take on my bad habits of complaining too much, they also take on my habit of praying prayers of gratitude. Often their prayers are lists of things they are thankful for, which warms my heart so much. The daily reminder of mentally or verbally listing everything that we are thankful for becomes a way to honour and glorify God, whilst resetting our minds and hearts to focus on Him. It also builds a solid foundation for knowing that God is good, all the time, no matter what comes our way.
I have meditated on this passage for most of this year and I am praying it is an expression of your heart also. That you would find a way to run TO God with your disappointments and worries, rather than run FROM Him:
“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land where there is no water.
I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.
I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
Psalm 63:1-5
