6 Gifts Covid-19 Gave Us - Part II
By Dr. Elizabeth Baker, Guest Contributor
Contact: grannysgumption@gmail.com
Part 2 (to read Part 1 of this blog, please click here)
Faith does not require Christians to constantly grin or walk through life as though trouble did not exist, but when we can see a glimpse of something positive coming along with the trial, life grows a little more hopeful. For myself, if I never again hear the word, “coronavirus,” it will be too soon. Yet if anything positive falls out of this long trial, I welcome it! With that in mind, I want to add three more to our list of opportunities that the current situation has given Christians.
# 4 Opportunity to judge our faith
The Bible encourages us to question whether our faith is real or if we’ve simply fallen into the comfortable habit of church (2 Corinthians 13:5). So, when many of our routines—like greeting friends on Sunday morning and relaxing in the air conditioning while the praise team entertains—are taken away, it may be a prime opportunity to look around and see what remains. If we find ourselves with an unread Bible on the table and our prayers sound like children repeating memorized lines from a script, there may be a problem that didn’t show itself during times of ease. The truth may be uncomfortable, but if our faith fades as our comforts diminish, something is wrong and covid-19 may be the trumpet blast God uses to wake us up.
#5. Opportunity to shake up the status quo
As sure as water follows a downhill path, when a church finds life easy, its heartfelt devotion can become ritual. Soon, status is valued more than service, and when that happens, it is past time for a change. The shake-up of COVID may be exactly what is needed to push the church forward whether the devil intended that result or not.
Current laws and regulations have caused many churches around the world to rethink their methods and get creative. In my small corner, I have watched prayer groups and home Bible studies spring to life as well as on-line preaching of the gospel give opportunity for learning where that never existed before. These things would never have happened if the church hadn’t been pushed.
#6. Opportunity to practice an eternal perspective
Perhaps the greatest gift covid-19 has presented to Christians is giving us a reason to switch perspectives as earthly things began to tremble. We have tried to change the government. We’ve looked to charismatic leaders. We have depended on appealing programs. We’ve assumed a stable economy would provide for future needs. Yet, all of these have proven weak as leaders, and bank accounts, and political parties fractured while society sheltered in place.
It is not that these earthly things are wrong or unworthy of our attention, but along the way, we may have forgotten that world systems and resources will never usher in the kingdom of God.
Covid-19 may be the instrument God uses to call us back for a look over Abraham’s shoulder as we, like Abraham, look for a city whose architect and builder is God (Hebrews 11:10), and any difficulty--trivial or pandemic--that prompts us to keep our focus on that eternal realm can’t be all bad.
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Republished with permission.