I am sure what you must have thought when you read the title. This shows the extent the past 90 days have impacted our minds as our minds can only think of what it’s been receiving from the external environment around us. Our mind alone is not impacted by the lockdown. Scientists say it takes 21 days to form a habit. Most of us have been in lockdown for more than 21 days and for sure we have formed a habit of doing certain things which is going to be difficult to break. Psychologists have dubbed the phenomenon “re-entry anxiety.” Lily Brown, director of the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, says there are two distinct types of re-entry anxiety. Some people are anxious because they have a “lurking fear” of catching or spreading COVID-19, she says, while others have fallen out of practice socializing and are finding it difficult to resume. Both types of anxiety are likely driven by uncertainty and a fear of unknown harm, Brown says.
With the lockdown easing, many people can find themselves in one of the extremes of lockdown. We need to carefully analyse our life and ask God for strength to come out of these extremes.
Many are asking will we ever get back to normality. Will the churches ever see hundreds and thousands of people committing their lives. But the Word of God says “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.” This means the mission of the church is not over and in fact it is only the beginning. What we witnessed in our churches before the lockdown was only the first wave of God’s love and might. But get ready for the second wave as God is not finished yet. But the important part is “getting ready”. God always does amazing things among people who are proactive than who are reactive. So what can we do to get ready.
1) Social distancing and not social alienation
“Social distancing” is one of the most common words we hear these days. It is very important that we follow the social distancing rules to ensure we keep ourselves and others safe. But many have taken social distancing to extreme level and socially alienated from their friends and acquaintances in the past 90 days. Just ask yourself how many people that you have been in contact with earlier in January are still in touch with you? When was the last time you spoke to them? It takes a lot of years to form a friendship or partnership in life. But it only takes “a lockdown” to break that friendship or partnership! We are living in a world which is very fleeting. David said in Psalms, “Lord, what are human beings that you care for them, mere mortals that you think of them? They are like a breath; their days are like a fleeting shadow.” Our days are like a fleeting shadow. In this “fleeting shadow” let us not forget our friends or acquaintances as one day every one of these relationships will make more sense when we stand before the throne room of God. God brings people in our lives for a reason. Let us not give this lockdown a chance to socially alienate from those acquaintances God has given us.
2) “Me” time or Mission time?
Many of us have enjoyed the benefit of having more “me” time during this lockdown. We spent a lot of quality time with our families, DIY and other useful activities. We have understood the importance of not getting ourselves too busy with commitments so that we can enjoy the free time we have and continue to spend more time with our family. It is one of the important lesson that I learnt during this lockdown – that I should not get too busy in life. But it is very easy to confuse busyness with the mission. Imagine the 12 disciples and Apostle Paul had taken a decision to spend more time with the family and not to get “too busy” with ministry? God never wants us to be “too busy”. This is why Jesus said “Mary has chosen a good part”. But we need to understand that God created each of us for a PURPOSE. Every purpose has a MISSION. You and your family are part of that mission but not the only mission. Let us not forget that people are still dying without the gospel. If we cared so much about increasing Covid-19 deaths and the “R number” and stayed at home, how much more should we care about people dying because of their sins and the increasing “U-number”! (un-godliness number) According to ONS nearly 5000 people die every month in Scotland. Scottish bible society in an article “Scotland is more Christian than we think” says “35.1% of Scots believe in God, 20.8% of Scots say that they pray at least once a week and 18.1% of Scots believe that there will be a judgement day. Taking the lowest point in all of these stats, at least one in five Scots believe in God.” So assuming 20% are born again Christians (though it may seem high), 4000 people every month are perishing without hearing the gospel. (But this could be even more if our assumption of 20% is too high) i.e. if we do nothing and are content with “me” time we will lose 40,000 people eternally by the end of the year which is the same number we lost to Covid-19 so far. I am NOT saying that we should go out and preach the gospel now defying the lockdown. But we need to understand the urgency and do everything we can even while we are at home to preach the gospel. When the time is right to go out, we should not be content with “me” time and forget the mission God has given us. As Paul encouraged Timothy, we should get ready to preach the gospel in season and out of season.
3) Precautious but not Anxious
We have to take every precaution to safeguard ourselves and others from getting infected. This means we should not be shy or afraid to follow the guidelines from the government such as wearing masks, keeping social distances, washing hands etc. But at the same time we need to ensure that these precautions don’t develop into anxiety and stress. The next 6 months are going to be very different as everyone is going to adapt to this new normal. Shopping, outting, leisure, holidays, schools, work experience are all going to be different. Church experience will not be an exception as churches slowly start to adapt to the “new normal”. Churches should be like Nehemiah and his people. The bible says, “From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked.” We need to learn to build in one hand and carry the “weapon” i.e. the precautions to not spread the virus in other hand. But the important thing is to acknowledge the words of Nehemiah who said, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”
4) Don’t get distracted from your purpose
If the devil wants to defeat you he doesn’t have to lead you astray to do horrible sins. All he has to do is to DISTRACT you. Many of us might have been very active in God’s kingdom before the lockdown. We might now feel bit lost and lacking in zeal. But isn’t that what the devil wants? He wants us to lose the zeal and the focus we had in God’s kingdom because we were being fruitful in God’s kingdom. But God wants us not to lose that zeal. God wants us not to get distracted but God wants us to re-kindle the fire in us. We need to start seeing the visions and dreams about our mission ahead of us. Many people lost their loves ones, their jobs and their finances. Many people are desperate and uncertain about their future. We need to start re-building from the damage this lockdown has brought upon peoples lives. It’s not going to be easy as rebuilding is not without challenges. So we need to focus without getting discouraged and distracted. When Nehemiah was discouraged and distracted he prayed, “Lord strengthen our hands.” So let us ask God to strengthen our hands as we prepare to rebuild and focus on the mission that is ahead of us.
