When Will We Get Back to Normal?
Hey Friend,
How are you?
Like, really, how are you?
The pandemic, quarantine, isolation, mitigation strategies, news reports, and a healthy bit of fear continues to drag on, and "normal" is a long way away.
So, how are you in the middle of all of it?
Me?
Our governor just elongated our Stay-at-Home order and I am feeling so very sad about that. I keep hearing a lot of people talk about . . . "When are we getting back to normal?" I myself am wondering, "Will we ever get back to normal after Covid-19 and if we do, what will normal look like?"
I think that is a good question to ponder. Maybe not to get stuck on, but to ponder. I don't have answers to those questions, so for me, I give those questions to the Lord and say, "You know. You see. You have it all figured out. So teach me to trust in You."
But Friends, what if we don't get back to normal?
What if the world coming out of this pandemic doesn't look anything like what we knew before 2020?
Will you be okay with that?
I have found myself looking with a bit more clarity at the Scriptures and seeing that there were many moments that weren't "normal" in the daily life of the people that experienced them.
The Red Sea opening so a million people could walk through to safety was not normal. (Exodus 14)
The walls of a great city falling at a shout wasn't normal.
(Joshua 6)A boy throws a rock that kills a giant wasn't normal. (1 Samuel 17)
A man coming to life after his dead body falls on the bones of Elisha wasn't normal. (1 Kings 13:21)
A virgin giving birth to the Son of God was not normal. (Luke 1)
Five women listed in the genealogy of the Messiah was not normal. (Matthew 1)
Lazarus coming out of the tomb was not normal. (John 11)
An angel rolling away a stone from the tomb so that the risen Christ could walk out in His resurrected body was not normal. (John 11)
A persecutor of Christians sees a blinding light and writes half of the New Testament because he had a divine encounter with Jesus was not normal. (Acts 9)
I could go on and on showing you the many moments in the Bible where God broke through and disrupted "normal" so His perfect will could be accomplished. He disrupts normal so we learn to lean into and trust in Him and not our understanding. Sometimes, God disrupts normal to perfect us and strengthen our faith. We see that time and time again throughout Scripture.
And in April of 2020, God broke through once again and has disrupted our normal.
And that is frightening. We crave normal because we know what to expect, we know how to act, and we know what to feel. And still . . . God has broken through our normal just like He has always done.
What if we stopped fighting this moment in time? What if like Moses, Mary, Joshua, Lazarus, Paul, David, and so many others . . . we embraced a disruption of normal and said, "God, have your way."?
I know we want to fight this time and I know we want to give in to fear and worry and I know that we want "normal", but I am praying that we embrace this disruption of normal and look forward to seeing what God is doing.
Maybe by disrupting your normal, He is taking you from the slavery of your past into the freedom of your future.
Maybe by disrupting your normal, He is tearing down some walls in your life.
Maybe by disrupting your normal, He is knocking down some giants in your life.
Maybe by disrupting your normal, He is raising you up into new life.
Maybe by disrupting your normal, He is birthing a new revelation of Jesus Christ in your life.
Maybe by disrupting your normal, He is rolling the stone of the tomb out of the way so that you can emerge into a new life in Christ.
I know you want to feel "normal" and I know you keep looking back hoping to find glimpses of normal before Covid-19 took over and when there was more to talk about than just the Coronavirus Pandemic. But, My Friend, you can rest in God is saying to you today . . .
"Look forward. I am doing a new thing, and even in this, I am carrying you. I am carrying you into something new. Just rest. Just trust. Just relax. I know you are frightened. I know you are afraid, but give that fear to Me and you will find peace in the middle of the storm. Stop looking back and look forward. I am disrupting your normal so you can see Me more clearly."
