The thought of writing a blog post about COVID-19 seemed slightly counterproductive when I first thought about it. It’s literally the topic of every news report, every social media post, every socially-distanced conversation anyway, and that’s somehow becoming normal and it’s very strange. Not to mention that we could all find a plethora of articles, podcasts, or other blogs that are offering tailor-made encouragement for what we’re going through. One more post just appears to add to the noise that I find myself trying to turn down.
So why am I writing this (other than the fact that I now have time to do so, obviously)? Because we’re forgetful creatures. While you might know the truth, perhaps my words can be a friendly reminder today. Especially as we travel such unfamiliar territory, I find that we’re never exactly at a point where we’re exempt from encouragement, no matter how strong we think we are. And part of writing this might just be a written testament for my own soul, a recorded Ebenezer destined (doomed?) to remain on the World Wide Web so that I can look back on and remember the faithfulness of God in such a bizarre time.
But enough explanation. Let me share what’s been rolling around in my brain these past couple weeks…
“What if” questions have probably taken up residence in most of our minds lately, if they didn’t already live there. We seemingly can’t help but fabricate the worst in our mind’s eye and we do everything we can to plan accordingly. What if I get the virus? What if my parents get the virus? What if my children get the virus? What if someone I love is isolated in a hospital bed and I don’t get to say goodbye? What if my nurse friend gets called as backup into the COVID unit? What if I get laid off? What if my temporary furlough gets extended? What if I still don’t have a job when May’s bills arrive? What if my kids don’t go back to school again this year? What if there aren’t enough venerators? What if my summer vacation that I’ve been saving for gets canceled? What if the person who just touched this shopping cart before me coughed into their hands? What if I actually run out of toilet paper?
But there’s another “what if” question that has been brought to my attention, and it’s the one I keep trying to push to the top of my ever-growing list:
What if the timing is no coincidence?
There’s a Greek term for time, kairos, which carries with it the idea of an opportune moment. It makes me think that critical times in our lives are more than random happenstance; they’re charted and coordination to come exactly when they’re supposed to. I truly think COVID-19 could be kairos for us in a number of different ways.
I can’t dismiss the hurt that is being felt in our world right now by covering it up with a “God’s timing is perfect” Band-Aid. I think if we’re not mourning, we’re missing something. I think constantly choosing to see the silver lining without staring at the dark clouds is not good for us or those around us. But I can’t help but wonder if we might gain a little perspective by choosing to see how God is at work through the pandemic during this particular time in history and our lives, because He truly is a sovereign King.
What if it’s no coincidence that this pandemic hit in a time of heightened expectations for many of us? It seems like a lot of us had professional and personal goals, as we do at the start of any new year, but this was especially the case for 2020. As much as it drives me up a wall to hear any sort of cliché “2020” vision metaphors in thinking about the year, I can’t lie when I say that I had an optimistic outlook on the opportunities of this new decade. I had projects to tackle, improvements to make, kingdoms to build.
And then, without a warning, Babel-style, God has interrupted our construction plans. Suddenly the dreams we had are no longer possible in a quarantined world. Now perhaps we’re learning what it really means to pray “Your kingdom come, Your will be done” as the blueprints of our own kingdoms have apparently been ripped to shreds. And we have to lean into our citizenship in a currently unseen kingdom whose architect and builder is the Lord (Hebrews 11:10).
What if it’s no coincidence that this is happening during whatever season of life you’re in? To the mother-to-be, I see you panicking about bringing a child into the chaos. To the mother of three, I see your frustration as you work from home while also trying to keep your kids on top of their schoolwork and you’ve got one computer for all of it. To the single guy or gal who doesn’t live with roommates, I see you enduring isolation that none of the rest of us have tasted. To the newlywed couple, I see you trying to hide the disappointment of not getting to go on that international honeymoon. To the senior adults, I see you having to brave pharmacies and grocery stores as if they were war zones. To the high school senior, I see you missing prom and yearbook signings and awards day and graduation, and from the bottom of my heart, I’m so sorry and this is not fair.
What if there’s something here for you in this age, in this stage, in all of this? What if this is growing you as a person whose heart is full of grace and empathy and faith instead of entitlement? What if it’s no accident that you have experienced God as Friend and Father and Lover during this exact moment in your timeline?
What if it’s no coincidence that this outbreak coincides with Lent and Holy Week and Easter? If ever there was a time to dwell on the relationship of our God and the broken state of our world, it’s now. Our gracious God does not remain oblivious to and aloof from our suffering. Instead, He entered into it with us and bore the brunt of its effects. Our rightful punishment fell on the Righteous One hung on a Roman cross.
But we know that suffering is not the end of the story. Paul writes that it’s because of Jesus’ resurrection that we look forward to our own resurrection, a day when “the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality” and when “death has been swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54). And if ever there was a time for us to hope for this day, it’s now. Evil does not have the final word. Death does not have the final word. And Coronavirus does not have the final word either.
And finally, what if it’s no coincidence that COVID-19 broke out just as spring did? The flowers have apparently not been watching the news. The birds are not up to date on the latest death tolls. A global pandemic has not hampered the arrival of the season. And now more than ever, I have clung so tightly to Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount:
“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?” Matthew 6:26-30
We have been given the chance to slow our pace and to observe, just as Jesus commands. Walk out your door and you’ll see azaleas’ uninhibited blooms and you’ll hear songbirds’ carefree melodies, living evidences of the faithful provision of their Creator. We have been hurled into a situation where worry spreads faster than the virus, yes. But we have also been given an abundance of reminders in our own backyard of what it looks like to trust our Maker and Sustainer.
So what if? What if your days of quarantine are actually your kairos, your opportune moment, to draw near to your Heavenly Father? And what if it’s no coincidence that in these times of social distancing, we find Him to already be extraordinarily near to us?
Cultivate. 