Seeing how this pandemic has affected people globally, I’m at the point where I feel that literally anything can happen. There’s no way that I could’ve imagined spending my last semester of undergrad on my computer in my room, but here we are. Although we don’t know what’s coming next, and we may be disappointed in how things are right now, we can find peace in the fact that it’s all in God’s hands – we are in God’s hands. In spite of our questions and confusion, it is important to trust the plans that God has set for us. During this time, I encourage you to really seek God and figure out what He’s trying to teach you in this time. Me personally, I can feel God tugging at my heart for a deeper intimacy with him. He has a way of isolating us so that our sole focus is Him. If you feel that tug – don’t ignore it, find your comfort in him.
Psalms 91: “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’ Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. If you say, ‘The Lord is my refuge,’ and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. ‘Because he loves me,’ says the Lord, ‘I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.’”
I just wanted to send encouragement to anyone (including myself) who’s feeling unsettled going through all these transitions. As long as most of us have been alive, we have never seen a pandemic quite like this. With schools closing down and people being out of work, it can be easy to lose sight of the important things. Whether you feel the actions taking place are necessary or unnecessary, they are happening. The scripture reminds us that God is our refuge – he is our shelter, our protection, our safety, and security.
One of our goals here is to help people grasp the full essence of who they are in God aside from who the world tries to tell them they are. This time away from work and school – things often used to define us – allows for us to get back to who we are at the root of it all: God’s loved children. Being God’s loved children and reciprocating that love offers us salvation and His hand of protection over our life. With this time in isolation, away from distractions, while resting in God’s peace, discover who God is calling you to be. There are things the Bible says you are – loved, the head and not tail, above and not beneath, etc., but there are things that God has assigned you to do and be specifically. Remember that in Him, you can find safety, as well as your purpose. You were created to change the game in your own unique way – don’t let this game change you.
