Which of these best describes how you’ve been feeling this past month?
A. Fearful
B. Bored
C. Anxious
D. Courageous
I’m guessing not many of you picked “D.”
But God didn’t make us for A, B, or C.
God made us to be courageous! That’s one reason Jesus was constantly upbraiding his disciples, saying “Have faith!” and “Fear not!” We were made to go into hard places with his love and bring hope.
Yet, here we’ve been dutifully sitting in our rabbit holes wondering when it’s going to be safe to come out again.
I’m writing this from Georgia, where our governor threw caution to the wind and said, “OK, you can go get your nails done again or go to a restaurant.” So, we’re poking our heads up out of our holes and wondering if it’s safe. And I frankly can’t tell you.
I just got a phone call from my mother’s retirement home where someone just contracted the virus and is in the hospital. So now they went to Level 5 lockdown for 14 days. And that seems prudent to me. We saw what happened to the nursing home in Seattle. We owe it to our elderly to protect them.
For the rest of us who are younger, who knows if it’ll ever be as safe as we may want it to be? But here’s something that’s true: It’s a lot less safe for others than it probably is for us. And we were made to spend our lives for others, not to hide. When the lockdowns end and we get to make courageous choices again, will we be ready in our spirits?
People are beginning to die of starvation in India and Africa. I am OK. I can do something for them. I personally have decided to pray into the question of “How can I begin acting courageously again?”
I hope you’ll join me in that prayer. Maybe this poem I wrote will be a prayer for you as well.
Choose courage
Tense and coil the muscles,
Rehearse the moves to match
What you see inside.
Soothe the amygdala.
Prepare to leap.
Comfort will have its place;
After your heart’s bleeding has stopped,
After the blood dries.
When the dream evaporates
And cynicism visits you
like the slime under a slug.
And in that moment,
You’ll feel your spirit
Being hugged back to itself.
You’ll once again know
You’re better than that,
That you just forgot all the times
You’ve saved the world,
And all the ways it
Needs saving now.
Once again you’ll remember
The Nepalese leper woman,
Abandoned by her family.
You’ll remember the way your heart broke
For the girl in Calcutta begging in ripped clothes,
And the Roma child, alone in her trauma,
Her mom an orphan before her,
From a tribe of wanderers shoved to the side,
From a race born to wander this planet, looking for a home.
You’ll remember the way their tears pierced your spirit
And mingled with your own.
You will dive into the breach again.
Your heart is stronger than you know.
You will be their champion.
You were born to choose courage.
Thank you for sharing this encouraging reminder Seth! It’s refreshing to remember who we are in Christ and how we should choose to live being set apart by His Love!
Thank you so much Seth.
I am grateful for everyone who is being very cautious and staying home because they care about others.
Even before we were sent home from work from the college I was being cautious because I work with so many people who are high risk in my immediate area and building.
I have no fear of the virus for myself and I prefer to go shop for my elderly or high risk friends instead of them being out. Thankfully my husband does all of our shopping but not theirs.
My mother is two states away down there in Georgia and I hope that if she needs anything that someone is helping her just like I am helping here.
So I have been very compliant and I am staying home and I am grateful I can work from home even though it’s a temporary part-time job. I hope things can open back up safely AND soon. Not one or the other.
I will pray for your mother. And I appreciate your heart for others and I appreciate the opportunities you have given to my adults (my grown children).
Blessings!
Yes, it’s “both/and.” Thanks for your prayers, Sherry. I love that about this crisis – I’m seeing more people praying than any time since I was in Haiti after the earthquake and the whole country of Haiti was praying.
We “run to the roar” brandishing holy swords undertaking a righteous cause. Love you, Seth.
Seth,
May we dive into the breach again and again. May we make courageous choices even while in lockdown.