1. Pray
Prayer is talking to God. It is telling Him anything and everything as an expression of our
relationship to Him. In normal times, the opportunity to do so is hampered by the demand on
our time from all kinds of things including work, traveling, recreation, etc. Currently none of
these is possible. We have all the time in the world to talk to God. He has our undivided
attention. Could this be the time to develop a habit of prayer that might come with us on the
other side of COVID-19?
2. Talk
When dealing with something as grave as COVID-19, people want to hear from someone. They
want to hear something encouraging and reassuring. They want to hear something inspiring and
true. They want to hear something positive and uplifting. In your prayer session above, ask God
to prepare you to be the person who can do all these things to another person. Do it by phone if
possible or by text or email as the next best thing.
3. Read
The demands on our time during normal times make reading difficult at best and impossible at
worst. The greatest casualty is the Bible. At baptism we are urged to put the Bible into our child's
hand and use it as a regular form of instruction. What is true of our children is true of us. We are
urged to study the Bible ourselves. Right now we are locked into our homes with unlimited time
to read scriptures. If we ever had plans to read the Bible in a year and failed to do so because of
time, now is the opportunity to read the Bible in a week.
4. Write
There is so much God is teaching us through this unique moment. Do what my daughter
challenged me to do. Write down how you feel, what you see and hear, and what you want your
descendants to learn from this experience. Remember many of them will come after it is past.
5. Watch
Find something to watch to keep your mind engaged. I have decided to limit my news viewership
to just enough to keep me informed. The rest of the time is devoted to watching programs that
teach me new things or those that provide clean and educational entertainment.
6. Rest
In society where rest can cost you profit or a job, it is impossible to adequately respond to the
body's beckoning for rest. Now is the time for us to be good stewards of the bodies that God has
given to us as containers of life.
I hope these thoughts will add to those you already have as we together wait on the Lord to grant us
relief form COVID-19.
"When your children ask their parents in time to come, 'What do these stones mean?' then you shall let
your children know, 'Israel crossed over the Jordan here on dry ground.' For the Lord your God dried up
the waters of the Jordan for you until you crossed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which
he dried up for us until we crossed over,"
Joshua
4:21-23
NRSV
https://www.bible.com/2016/jos.4.21-23.nrsv
In Him,
Pastor Elijah
To read the Bible on line, here is the link to Bible.com:
