Making the most of the moment

I have just listened again to the UK Blessing, the wonderful song given to the nation at the height of our first lockdown over a year ago. Surely this song, written by Kari Jobe and others, came from the throne of God to remind us all that in the midst of the pandemic, God is for us and is blessing us.  Many nations blessed their people with this song. 

I realise that every country faced their pandemic differently but I hope these British centred words will apply even to your situation. 

I am still surprised when someone who is a CEO of a large organisation recounts how they had to work from home in 2020 and try and home school their children at the same time. I know people like me had to do this but surely CEOs and other were important people were exempt? Pandemics and lockdowns are great levellers. 

One of the things we learned from that first lockdown was that there were no exceptions for the rich and famous. Everyone from the Queen to the humblest worker had to stay home. We were in this together and as Christians we had to adapt and adapt fast to how to do our lives and Church in a new way. We had to learn quickly that the message of the Gospel was still the same, still relevant, and the hope it brings needed like never before. Whether we met in a church building or online, God was still with us. We all had to learn where our hope was truly based – on Jesus Christ and his promises and not on our own efforts.  

In the UK, we are coming out of the worst of this pandemic and with the vaccine programme in full swing, we are all hopeful that we will not be going back that way again but have we learned the lessons that God was teaching us from the past year? 

Did we make the most of the pandemic and discover that God really is our provider?  Maybe you lost your work, your business or even your home. Has God been faithful?  There is much talk of mental health and how this has been affected. As Christians have we found that God is our strength, our strong tower, our encouragement?   Has our prayer life fundamentally shifted and our relationship with God closer than ever? As we have been unable to meet our family and friends, have we learned to value relationships more than we did before? Maybe you lost a loved one and were unable to be with them at the end, has God been your comfort?

I do hope the answer to these and many other similar questions is ‘Yes’ because as we go forward, it is not going back to the old ways but into a new season, a new era even. None of us knows what that looks like but the lessons learned during the last year are essential for this new day. God is faithful and we are going to have to trust him as never before. 

I have no idea how it’s all going to look a year from now but I believe God wants to do something new and extraordinary, something we haven’t seen before and it will require us to be turned inside out so our worlds can be turned upside down with the presence of Jesus. 

The key now is how to live in this moment well, how to make the most of this time so we can advance and not hanker for the old. If God pours out His Spirit in revolutionary ways are we willing receptors or closed wells? All I can do is keeping pressing in, keeping prioritising my relationship with Jesus and be ready. It will be hard, because unlike lockdowns, the distractions are now great. Already I can feel so many ‘old’ things demanding priority in my life. It’s not that they’re wrong, they just need to take their rightful place.

The question is - have I made the most of the last year so I am ready and willing for the new season ahead? Only you can answer that.

If I'd known ...

I was wondering recently what I would have done differently if someone had told us a terrible pandemic was coming which would affect the whole planet and completely transform our lives.

If I’d known we would be unable to travel and see family and friends, what might I have done? If I’d known that I couldn’t hug my children and grandchildren, how could I have prepared? If I’d know that going shopping would be very different, having to queue and wear masks. If I’d realised that even going to IKEA would turn into an awkward and unwelcome shopping experience. 

Queuing outside shops.

If I’d known that going to anywhere like a National Trust property would mean booking in advance, reduced numbers, social distancing, and then having to sit outside with a takeaway coffee and cake in the autumn chill, would I have stayed at home? If I’d known that social distancing meant treating everyone cautiously as a possible virus carrier and that our social life would be severely dented, what might I have done?

I feel as if we sleep walked into the pandemic, not having a clue what was facing us. At first it was quite enjoyable with the slow down in life but we didn’t have to home school children, while trying to work at home ourselves, in a small flat in the middle of a city. I didn’t lose my job nor was I furloughed. The pandemic is a great leveller. Everyone from the Queen to the humblest citizen had to stay at home unless they had an essential job, but it is the consequences now that have perhaps been the most shocking.  Our whole lives have not returned to what was normal and it does not look as if we will ever do so. 

What might I have done if I’d known?  I’m not sure there is anything I could really have done except perhaps been prepared mentally.  However that could have been counterproductive, as we may have imagined things far worse or quite differently. Someone recently asked why did God not warn us?  

I don’t know but the one thing God has promised and in my opinion has proved very faithful is that he will never leave us or forsake us.  My relationship with God, which was not that bad before, has deepened. I have never prayed as much or as strategically as I have in recent months. I have learned how to pray for nations and governments. I have learned to pray and trust God with the big things of life.  I have learned to be thankful for everything and maybe that is what I might have done if I’d known …I might have appreciated all that I had with a far greater depth of thankfulness. I may have valued everything and not taken so much for granted. 

I have also learned that ‘All things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose.’   There is much good that has come out of this – the Church has emerged from its closed buildings onto the internet and has encountered so many more people. 

The Church, along with many others, has reached out to the poor and needy in our society. I remember the singing vicar who walked his streets singing Christian songs to encourage his parishioners. The Blessing has become an anthem of 2020. There have been many inspiring stories as people have reached out selflessly to those in need.

Abroad, those living in the greatest poverty before are living even more fragile lives once coronavirus hit their countries. It has been so good to stand with them in prayer and finance. 

There is now one absolutely certain fact. Everything has changed and almost certainly, nothing will go back to how it used to be.  Life may not be what I want, but I’m going to appreciate what I have now and take nothing for granted. It’s no point complaining; we still have much to be thankful for. 

God is working out a much bigger plan and purpose that should keep us focused, prayerful and expectant. We all have a part to play. The world needs Christians who can bring hope and life to those struggling with unemployment, debt, sickness and despair. There is a harvest out there and the Lord of the Harvest needs his harvesters ready with scythes and fishing nets. 

I never realised 2020 was going to be like this and none of us knows what 2021 might be like but even if the virus is still challenging our lives, still bringing unexpected and unwanted change, still confining us and making our relationships challenging, God is faithful and trustworthy. God is in control. 

Please leave a comment about what you might have done 'If I'd known ..."