2020 started just like any other new year celebration but a little extravagant as it marked the start of a new decade. People were excited and doing 10 year challenge in social media posting pictures of them 10 years back. There were jubilant celebrations in every major cities in the world as the clocked ticked 00:00 hours on Dec 31st 2019 marking the start of a brand new decade. In United Kingdom there were signs of relief as Boris Johnson got elected with a big majority finally breaking the Brexit stalemate that rocked the nation for nearly 2 years. There were high expectations of economy bouncing back after the Brexit deal and hopes of recovery. In the US, President Trump tweeted on December 23rd 2019, “NASDAQ UP 72.2% SINCE OUR GREAT 2016 ELECTION VICTORY! DOW UP 55.8%. The best is yet to come!” But little did anyone knew what was about to happen to the entire world in a matter of 60 days. On March 11th 2020, WHO declared the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) as pandemic. Within weeks the entire world came to a grinding halt. At the time of writing this book, quarter of the world is in lockdown. Airports are shut, all shops and businesses closed, schools are closed, Gasoline prices reached all time low as people didn’t drive for more than 10 weeks, social-distancing measures on the rise and we have to queue outside the grocery store 2 meters apart from each other. Only limited number of people are allowed inside the store at any one time so people have to lineup outside the store. There are tapes on the floors at grocery stores and others to help distance shoppers from each other. People are wearing masks and religiously using antibacterial wipes to clean their trolleys. The toilet-roll sections, hand sanitisers and wipes shelves are all empty due to panic buying. Non-essential stores and businesses mandated to be closed and therefore city centres have become “ghost cities” with hardly no human beings seen outside. Entire sports seasons are cancelled. Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events – cancelled. Weddings, family celebrations, holiday gatherings – cancelled. People are allowed to go out for exercise once a day. There are shortages of masks, gowns, gloves for front-line workers. Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill. Government closed the border to all non-essential travel. Stadiums and recreation facilities open up for the overflow of Covid-19 patients. Press conferences are being held daily from the country’s leader with daily updates on new cases, recoveries, and deaths. Welcome to 2020! This is the life in lockdown for most inhabitants of planet earth as some say – the new normal!
Many things have changed drastically in the past 10 weeks. Sadly many lost their loved ones and some lost their jobs and their future is uncertain. Some others are adapting to working from home with kids and spouses in the same room. For some others like grocery store workers and health care professionals staying at home is not an option. They go out to work wearing personal protection equipment (PPE) with a fear of bringing this deadly virus to their loved ones. People come outside their houses to clap for carers and health care workers every week to show their appreciation. Churches are meeting online via Zoom and there are reports of increase in attendance to these online services as people try to figure out what this crisis means. Many are desperately waiting for this lockdown to end.
If there is one thing we can learn from history it is, “this too shall pass”! Every crisis human beings faced in the past have become a thing of the past. This includes world wars, Chernobyl disaster, 911 terror attacks, disasters from earth quakes and Tsunami’s and the list goes on. Everything have become a distant memory except for the sacrifices and the bravery of those who fought in the midst of those crisis. So the hope we have is that this crisis too shall pass and will become a distance memory one day.
So what can we do now while we are in the middle of this crisis eagerly waiting for it to come to an end? Someone said, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.” While it is not easy for everyone to “dance in the rain” we all can do one thing as we wait for the storm to pass. It is to use that precious commodity called TIME wisely and prepare for what is yet to come. King David wrote in the book of Psalms, “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” Here are some important lessons we can learn from this life in lockdown.
1) Appreciate the simple things
King Solomon one of the wisest man who ever lived in this earth wrote,
“For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? 23 All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless. 24 A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? “
People chase after the wind and run on a “treadmill” called “success” day and night. They don’t have time for families, church, friends and they don’t even have time for themselves to pause and reflect. We keep running until we burn out and spoil our health, joy, peace, wealth and eventually leave our dear ones in tears for whom we started running on this “treadmill”. This lockdown has taught us that simple things in life are more important than success, fame and money. Seeing the smiles and happiness of our loved ones enjoying our presence at home is priceless. Going for a walk with our loved ones, taking the kids for a bike ride, playing in the garden, pretending to be in a tent holiday in a make-shift tent in the living room, enjoying the movie nights with a pop-corn are priceless than a Disney holiday or a Cruise travel for which we toil day and night. We need to stop running this rat-race and enjoy one day at a time. We need to stop comparing with others and chose what is important for us and our family. Because simple things matter in life.
2) Life is short and time is precious
Many people sadly lost their lives in this pandemic. Some families who were laughing and celebrating the new year three months back are now heart-broken. Disease and death is not a respecter of person as even most powerful leaders of the countries were not spared from this disease. This teaches us how short our life is and how fragile our days are in this earth. This is why King David wrote,
“Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. 5You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure. “
It is not really worth to spend this short life with bitterness and anger against our loved ones, families and friends. We need to make use of every day to show God’s love to others. The bible says, “Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” Jesus understood the importance of time and he loved his disciples to the end.
The bible also says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”
Paul wrote to the Romans,
“Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
Since life is short we also need to take this gospel to many others who don’t know this good news and dying without hope. So let us redeem every single day and hour for the work of the gospel and show the love of God to others.
3) Time for personal renewal
David spent a lot of his youthful days in lockdown as he went hiding from cave to cave when King Saul relentlessly chased him to kill him. But it was this experience that made David one of the most successful and strongest king in Israel. David spent a lot of time with God while he was in hiding. In Psalms 57 he wrote, “I’m hiding out under your wings until the hurricane blows over. I call out to High God, the God who holds me together.” In another instance he wrote, “The wicked are waiting to destroy me but I will ponder your statues.” Isn’t it amazing that even in times of danger and disaster David sought God? David constantly renewed himself in God and went closer to him while he was hiding. He was looking up even when he was in lockdown. This is why David was unstoppable by his enemies and had many victories during his lifetime. Enemy cannot put a Christian in lockdown because he always kneels down and brings the heaven down!
Apostle Paul was in a prison when he wrote the letter to the Philippians. He wrote,
“I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.”
In another instance Paul and Silas were put in prison and their feet were fastened to a stock. This is worse than a lockdown. Satan must have thought that they will stop seeking God at least now. But they sang songs in the middle of the night and literally brought the heaven down!
When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai his face was so radiant that the people were afraid to come near him. The more time you spend with God the more you become like him. This lockdown is the perfect time for us to spend time with God without any distractions from other commitments. This is the time to ask him what do we need to change in our own life to become more like him. So let us draw near to God and he will come near to us and renew us.
4) Pray, plan and prepare for life after lockdown
No one knows what life after lockdown will be. Many people are worried about this. I don’t know either. But one thing is sure, we will never have another day like today in our lifetime. So rather than worrying about our tomorrow let us use the present to pray, plan and prepare for the future.
When David was running away from Saul, he once went to the king of Moab and said, “Would you let my father and mother come and stay with you until I learn what God will do for me?”. There is so much of uncertainty in this request as David was not sure what will happen to him. Apostle Paul said to the Ephesians, “I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.” Even Apostle Paul was not sure what will happen to him. So we are not alone in this. Sometimes ignorance is bliss and we don’t want God to reveal everything to us as we will panic more. This is why Jesus said to his disciples, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.“
One thing is sure, His grace will be sufficient for us in any and every situation and the Holy Spirit will guide us. We don’t have to live in desperation and fear as we have a God who promised us, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”
So let us use this time to pray, plan and prepare for the future.
