“Such love has no fear, because perfect love drives out fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.” 1 John 4:18 NLT
Last week I began to take a daily walk during my lunch break. Covid-19 has me working from home, so I really have no excuse not to get out and walk. The people I work with all encourage us to get outside and take brain breaks away from all of the technology that pings, dings and vibrates all day long vying for my constant attention. Everyone seems to intrinsically know that nature is good for the soul.
Since this crisis has hit us at the same time spring has, there has literally been new discoveries everyday. I have been amazed at how pink buds appear seemingly overnight on a tree that was barren the day before and then wowed again at the blossoms that burst forth so quickly after. I’ve seen wisteria vines go from dormant, to a few blossoms, to dozens of clusters in days and the fragrance they release is a small wonder all its own.
As I was praying and giving thanks for the beauty, I found myself almost overwhelmed at God’s timing. If Covid-19 would have shown itself during the winter, most of us would have had to remain locked up indoors and for those of us in the Deep South, our winter included an unprecedented amount of rain. It was a miserable winter. We all grumbled about it. I even blogged about it.
But, those showers, as incessant as they were, have led to a beautiful spring. Would we have appreciated our beautiful and warm weather if we hadn’t endured that rain?
It also struck me that we are in the midst of Lent, a period of time when Christians are called to draw closer to Jesus by asking ourselves what it is that keeps us away from Him. It’s a time of self-reflection when we are supposed to put down those idols that we put before our relationship with Jesus.
If I’m honest, there are years when I have wholeheartedly participated in Lent and there are years when I have not. But, this year, it seems that Lent has been forcibly thrust upon us. We are living in a time of fear, chaos, panic and uncertainty. Our economy is in a free fall. We are confined to our homes with our families and isolated from other people and just about everything worldly. We are barraged with hourly messages of doom from the media.
Maybe now is the time for us to prayerfully ask, what has kept us from God and what He wants to teach us. Since we have had to put down just about everything we have held tightly in our hands, maybe now is the time to refocus and rededicate our lives to the higher purpose to which we have been called. Maybe in doing that, we can become part of a revival that our nation and even our world, has never seen before.
A walk reminded me that people who keep their focus fixed on Jesus can’t help, but become people of love and light and people of love and light, spread hope faster than any virus can ever spread desolation and fear. Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂
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