Coping With COVID

 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

Hebrews 12:1-2a [NIV]

Lately there has been a plethora of things that hinder!  I don’t know if you can relate, but every time I chose to do something, I realize that it will be different because of COVID. And that hinders me and makes me stop cold. Today, to me, this is what the what the verse above is addressing. Issues of COVID tie up my excitement and creativity in a little knot and easily entangle me in a downward progression of thoughts. If you can relate to this, then keep on reading. There is good news ahead.

Are we stuck in this entanglement of coping with the hindrance of COVID, or is there a better way?  Is there a way out of this daily, as folks in the South say, “whoopin’? ” As I was reading a devotional from a friend, I was drawn to the above passage in Hebrews 12.  Embedded in it was a way to cope and live in this time victoriously.  It starts with telling us to run the race. There were no contingencies. It said to run. Don’t sit and worry. Don’t wait to feel like it. Just get started.  And it also says the path is marked for us to run. Right now our path is terribly curvy. We don’t know what tomorrow holds. We can’t see around the next bend, but we can make up our minds to persevere and run today’s path.  And what is more, we are given instructions on how.  Fix your eyes on Jesus.  Don’t fix your eyes on what might be looming ahead. Don’t even fix your eyes on today’s tasks. Fix your eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.  So how do you fix your eyes on Jesus?

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay 

‘Fixing your eyes’ is all about focus.  Our focus is what determines how we live our life. This is a choice of putting the emphasis on God. So rather than choosing to feel wrung out and tired, I will choose to feel needed, essential and invested.  It is a choice. Placing my eyes on my blessings and what is good in my life places my focus on the God who gave me these blessings. So today if I am grateful, I will see the fruit of that gratitude which is peace and overflowing joy.  And then tomorrow, for the new peace and joy, I am more grateful and pretty soon I am in a perfect cycle of blessings!  Gratitude inspires gratitude. This isn’t about adopting a ‘PollyAnna’ attitude. Gratitude doesn’t deny how hard things are, it just puts the emphasis on the good. And God is the goodness in our lives. 

Remember

A lot of things are written about the high and low points of life, but very little is written about the in-between transition times. Yet the majority of our lives are spent in transition.  Transitions are when we are waiting for an upcoming big event that will inevitably change everything. It could be a promotion, retirement, graduation or even a marriage.  Sometimes the transition can be just waiting on Friday to get here or waiting to feel better. We know it is coming, we are hopeful and nervous, but we are waiting. This time seems to be a waste and we just want to skip to the big event!

We all know we would not get to those big events without the days, months, and years of work, however somehow they get minimized in our minds.  When you see a graduation or a retirement or a ten-year pin, remember the mornings you got up when you didn’t want to.  Remember all those testing times you endured, thinking you were ready to quit.  Remember all the fun times you skipped to do the right thing.  Remember the bad dates, the surly coworkers, crazy bosses, and ridiculous assignments.  But remember mostly who got you through it.  Remember who led you there.  Remember who had your back when you had no one to turn to.  Remember those God-given abilities that kept you keeping on.  Remember the prayers you prayed and He answered.  

This year is monumental for me.  I get my first ever ten-year pin!  I know that doesn’t sound like a big deal to you, but believe me, it didn’t happen without many answered prayers.  The other day I was getting sentimental about the past ten years, so I opened my journal from 2009.  There I saw a prayer I prayed.  Ten years later it brought me to my knees because looking back I could see that my loving Father answered every detail of that prayer and so much more.  

Even on the Mondays, never doubt that God is there holding you up and answering prayers in ways better than you could ever hope or imagine.  But in order to really see this, you must take the time to remember the bad days.  Remember what you endured.  If you are like me, I always thought it was unhealthy to think about the hurts of the past.  However, I have found that it is healthy to remember what you have endured with a thankful, humble heart.  It will give you perspective and hope for the next bad day, month or year. 

Remembering is not a small thing.  It is stated many times throughout the Bible.  God made remembering an integral part of our lives with him.  He told the Israelites to remember their slavery and years of wandering in the desert.  Even the beautiful rainbow was to remind us of the deliverance from the great flood.  So in this season of graduations and retirements, remember not just the good times, but remember the miserable times.  Remember your deliverance.  It is healthy.  It is commanded.  

Lamentations 3:19-26 NIV

[19] I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. [20] I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. [21] Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: [22] Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. [23] They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. [24] I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” [25] The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; [26] it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.