For the first 2-3 weeks of my quarantine, I spent 10-12 hours a day in my dark, cold, and what some might call “spoopy” basement.
Anywhere from 2-3 times a week would I actually step foot outside…...you would’ve thought I was in my Fallout shelter, or what I have been referring to as “The Batcave”.
With college online, I felt like I had more work to do at home than I would back on campus. I had anywhere from 5-10% of my usual motivation to productively do things like homework, and I’ve only done 5-10% of the things I really want to do.
At one point last week, I seriously asked myself, “Is any of this really worth doing, or can I just give up?” No not like give up and drop out, but can I just be content with what I have done and move on...that kind of giving up.
I pondered the thought for a while, and hopped back into Scripture to remind myself of what I was just talking about in my past Bible study session:
"We also glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perserance; perseverance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through The Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."
Romans 5: 3-5
As we're approaching Easter this weekend, it's so vital to remember God's sacrifice placing His Son, Jesus, to die for all of us so we can live without fear.
But yet, we still fear this Coronavirus/COVID-19 stuff because it's honestly terrifying.
And where is God in all of this?
Simple.
God is strengthening the doctors, nurses, and medical staff as they spend more time trying to keep people alive than they do sleep at night and spend time with their families.
God is working on the hearts of our leaders as we criticize them without knowing all of the work they do behind the scenes that the media doesn't catch.
And God is poking at us each and everyday to focus in on Him when we need Him most.
God wants us to know that the Big Sacrifice paid for 2,000+ years ago was not for us to sit in our sweats all day long in fear of this virus, and it certainly wasn't for us to work harder than we're capable of working.
Now. Ask yourself this:
Are you pushing yourself too hard or do you need to push yourself harder?
That is how you can BREAK FREE this week.
Will you choose to push yourself to do something you haven't done in a while (like working out is what I need to do) or will you choose to let go of something you can't control (like this virus and the conditions that we all face because of it)?
I'll leave you with this prayer that comes from the following verse.
PSALM 199: 33-37
Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end.
Give me understanding, so that I may keep your word and obey it with all my heart.
Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.
Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.
Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.
Ask God to turn your eyes to Him, and not to the ways of the world around us.
Go and BREAK FREE from your fears, go and BREAK FREE from your limits, and go and BREAK FREE from your homes, because only God knows how crazy you can be if you sit in a basement without sunshine for too long!
- Britt