March 18, 2020
In the past week, I have heard the phrase “I have never experienced anything like this before in my lifetime” more times that I can count. I echo that sentiment. To be honest, I have struggled as a leader on how to make sense of it all. My guess is you have, too. It seems like just a few weeks ago our worlds were going along just fine. Kids were in school. The stock market was humming along. There was plenty of toilet paper in the stores and the phrase “social distancing” never crossed our minds.
Now, I write these words while working remotely all by myself, preparing a sermon to speak to a camera and an empty room, and wondering how long will this last?
I certainly don’t know how long it will last and I am certainly not going to tackle the question “why is this happening?” However, a question I would pose to all of us is: How will we grow from this? As difficult as this is, I think we should strive to learn and grow in our own personal lives.
In Luke 8:22-25, there is a fascinating story of the disciples in a boat in the middle of the storm and Jesus was taking a nap! If you never thought you could relate to Jesus, now you do. :) They were scared and rightfully so. They woke Jesus up and said “...we’re going to drown!” Jesus woke up, calmed the storm, and then asked this simple and profound question: Where is your faith?
I wonder if Jesus asked us the same question today what our response would be?
At the end of the story, the disciples said to each other, “When He gives a command, even the wind and waves obey Him!” What I love about their response is that they came through the storm with a deeper understanding of who Jesus is. I pray we do the same.
I hope that this unprecedented time we are walking through will bring about unprecedented faith in our lives. I hope the more we distance ourselves from each other the more we will grow closer to Jesus. I hope that as we feel the power of the storm we are in we never forget the greater power of Jesus. I hope that as the waters eventually calm and all becomes normal again - our hearts and souls have a deeper understanding of who Jesus is.
Your Virtual Friend,
Chris Emmitt
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