How We Respond as Women who Follow Jesus
Watching the news lately feels like we are watching the end of the world. Events, sports, schools, businesses and even parts of every day life seem to be shut down in an effort to contain a rapidly spreading virus that has reach pandemic levels of concern.
I have certainly made my jokes about CoronaVirus (Covid-19) and the mass amounts of toilet paper people have stored up in their homes, but I am also well enough aware that I need to take necessary precautions to not only keep myself and my family healthy, but also those around me who may be immune suppressed or compromised and may not fare as well against a virus most of us can recover from.
As Christians, how do we respond to news of fear, devastation, uncertainty, disease, chaos and confusion? God is not a God of confusion so I think it is really important that those of us who claim Him and follow Him take the time to have our faith firmly planted and ready for when the world needs a little more hope and assurance than what the world is offering.
We get an opportunity to pray and serve and watch as God does what He is famous for.
Disease, sickness, destruction, chaos. This is all part of us living here on this earth. Human beings exposed and powerless to stop things. I really believe that we are about to see God do something incredible.
Our response here matters a great deal. While yes, we need to be proactive and smart and pay attention to our hygiene and of course, wash our hands, we should also be a people on our knees in prayer and deep in His word so that we can continue to speak life, truth and hope to others. There are people around you currently who are experiencing anxiety, depression, fear, and hopelessness due to what is currently happening in our world right now.
Don't make light of it.
This is our opportunity to shine a bright light into the dark.
If you are following along with me while reading You Are The Girl For The Job by Jess Connolly, then you know....this is the time to let God work and empower us to rise up and tell people about Jesus. Because now is the time. You are up, sister friend! Not for your glory, but for His and so that people will see God and all of His majesty, glory, power, wonder and grace.
Do you really think God is surprised by what is going on? Do you think the Coronavirus snuck up on Him? I don't believe that for a second. So while the world panics and fears the unknown, I will trust the unknown to a very real and known God.
In Matthew 6:34 Jesus encourages us to not be anxious about tomorrow:
"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
It, or Jesus rather, is not stating that we should not buy what we need to in order to take care of our homes, ourselves, or that we should simply live blindly. Jesus is simply reminding us that we are not in control of this, but He knows who is. And so do we. Worrying more and obsessing over something that we have no control over is not going to make it any better or fix it...simply because our minds obsessed over it.
Be proactive, pray a lot, serve people where you can, give generously if you have an abundance of resources to give.
If your schools, communities, jobs, activities and more are temporarily shutting down because of Covid-19, then now is our opportunity to slow it down and dig deep into the truth and share it from wherever you are. I saw a quote on Instagram that said something along the lines of this:
"Let your inconvenience be your testimony."
Allow this situation, this temporary inconvenience on your life and all the fun plans you have for yourself or your family be a chance for your message about whom your serve and who you trust to be louder than the panic all around us.
We don't need to be arrogant or pious about our faith. Let them know us by our love. As my church says, let's be living proof of a loving God.
So in our response to those in fear and panic, show them Jesus.
In Him,
Tiffany
P.S. All seriousness aside, I am so excited to literally do nothing but hang in my house with my kids, read a ton, and watch some movies with my fam. I am all stocked up on coffee!!
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