Faith
One of my goals for 2020 was to go to church every sunday. We are in the middle of a global pandemic right now, churches have been closed for 4 months. The odds of me entering a building of worship anytime soon, are slim to none. I had to pivot, I had to shift my goal. It was a good goal, but God doesn’t just want me to go to church, he wants me to draw near. He wants me to listen. He wants me to get to know him and his Word. Going to church would have been a lot easier huh?
What a challenge for us during this time of uncertainty. Draw near to God instead of away. Instead of asking, “God why are you doing this?”, ask, “God what are you doing?” and “What are you showing me?”.
We don’t have concerts or parties or trips to document our 2020. But personal growth? Spiritual growth? There is literally no reason why we can’t be pulling ourselves to where we want to be at the end of this year spiritually. It is 1000% a challenge. Are you up for it?
We have nothing but time. How are we going to choose to spend it? Are we going to set aside an extra 10 minutes for prayer and meditation? To listen and not just to ask. Let’s read our bible a little more, let’s see what God reveals! So much of what happens in the old testament is what we are all experiencing in our hearts today. Seems dramatic, but give it a read and see what comes up for you.
I started a new bible study three weeks ago. It’s called “The Bible in 52 Weeks” by Kimberly D. Moore. If you do it correctly, you will have read the entire bible in a year. It starts in Genesis and so far, I’m a few chapters into Exodus. I don’t normally like reading the old testament, but having prompts to follow along and something to reference gives me the extra push. I have also been listening to sermons from Elevation church once a week. Oddly enough the one I listened to this past week was also about Exodus. Specifically, about the Manna. Which means “What is it?” They prayed for bread and God gave them manna, but they had never seen it before and didn’t know what it was. God might be giving us what we want, but it might not look like what we thought it would. Read that again. Did your mind just blow up? Mind did.
One of my prayers for 2020 was for God to help me become financially stable. I would pray this every day, along with other prayers requests. I worry about money often and I wanted to give this worry solely to God, so I prayed for it everyday. I had recently leased a new car and moved into an apartment where I wasn’t splitting rent or utilities. Things became tight quickly, but I knew God would provide.
I prayed everyday for financial security. In my mind, God was going to give me that promotion I had been waiting for. God was going to get me a bonus. God was going to bring some unknown inheritance my way! Anything can happen right?!
But God sent a pandemic. Instead of a promotion, I got my pay cut by 20%.
Instead, I broke my lease, I moved home. I don’t want to be here, BUT. I am saving $1000 in rent every month not including utilities. I’m working from home which means I am saving money in gas that I would be spending to drive to work everyday. I am not supposed to be going out to bars and restaurants, forcing me to save my budgeted “going out money” and stay home to eat.
Is God providing? YES. Was it what I thought? NO.
Just because we don’t see it, doesn’t mean God isn’t work. Did I want to be moving back to my parents home at 26, no, was it the right thing to do financially, absolutely. Is God going to bring me out of it, in his time.
Just because the entire world seems to have stopped moving, does not mean that God has. Do not give up on that. He is doing a big thing. We have to stay faithful through this. We might not get to worship the way we want, but we can find new ways to sing praise.
He is working. Even in the pandemic. God is working.