Posted on April 22, 2020 by elcachargers
by Vicky Rodgers • Director of the ELCA Early Learning Academy
…we are bored and lost. We find ourselves clamoring for our lives to return to normal. We unknowingly crave the busyness and the hectic schedules that comfort us, that consume us. If I just had more time…
How would you finish that statement? How often have you said, “I just don’t have time to do that,” or “I wish I had more time and then maybe I could…..!” This past month, due to the Coronavirus and the limitations it has placed on our lives, we have all been stripped of our “busyness” of daily life. We suddenly find ourselves quarantined at home detached from the outside world. Evenings and weekends are not filled with the usual entertainment opportunities, places to go, and people to see. We are faced with some voids in our lives and ultimately we have more time on our hands. How do we respond? I think for many of us, we are bored and lost. We find ourselves clamoring for our lives to return to normal. We unknowingly crave the busyness and the hectic schedules that comfort us, that consume us. However, what if we stopped and looked at what God is doing in the midst of this pandemic?
Proverbs 16:9 says, “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” I wonder if we took a deep breath and instead of anticipating the return to normal, looked at what God is teaching us during this time? Could He be giving us the opportunity to look at how we spend our time? Maybe we should spend more time in prayer and study of the Word. Maybe we should spend more time with those we love, playing with our children, seeing how they learn, eating together as a family, playing games and sharing time outdoors together. Maybe we should spend time working on projects with our spouses around the house, things we have wanted to get done but just haven’t had the time. Maybe we should FaceTime, call, or send cards to grandparents or others who are alone and crave hearing our voices, seeing our face, or receiving something in the mail besides ads and bills. Maybe we should capitalize on doing things we wish we had more time to do.
Psalm 90:12 says “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” The busyness of our world can overwhelm our lives and rob us of the precious gift of time. God is at work in our lives, giving us wisdom as we walk through these uncertainties, if we will only let him direct our steps. Seek Him as you discern how to use the extra time He has given to you. Time is one of the most precious things we can give another person and time with God is certainly essential in living out our faith.
1 John 2:17 says “The world and its desires pass away but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”
Take the time to see how God is working in your life with the extra time he has gifted to you.