by Giles Armstrong
This morning I got up a little earlier than normal because I needed more time with Jesus. As I filled my lungs with the cold crisp mountain air, I looked up and there they were . . . the stars shining in the darkness. The moonlight was dancing on the mountain and somewhere in the distance I heard the call of coyotes. Then it hit me . . . creation wasn’t freaking out, it was speaking out. Reminding me that God was still in control. I realized in that moment that this pandemic wasn’t my problem but rather my solution.
You see it stripped away all the layers of false control: my job, my money, my supplies – even did I have enough toilet paper! My real problem was where had I built my life. Was it really on the ROCK of Matthew 7 or was this storm just washing away the sands of a false safety? And as each of these false sands of safety failed, I was forced to ask what had I really been living for? Am I thankful for a pandemic? No, but I am thankful for the perspective this pandemic brings. That life is not about surviving but about truly living.
In that moment I was confronted with the question of what would I do with this breath of fresh air I had not paid for, but had been freely given by a God who LOVES me? Would I waste it on worry or invest it in words of worship? So at 4 a.m. I chose to breathe words of praise in the midst of the problems. Because in that moment as I breathed out praise, I was reminded of the reality that we are ALL going to die. The real tragedy is not death, but that we might never really live. As Norman Cousins said, “The tragedy of life is not death but what we let die inside of us while we live.”
My safety is not in sand but in a Savior who died for me. So today I choose to invest in praise. I choose to look around and invest once again in love.
Learn to laugh not because you don’t have problems but because you are alive. Start living for love not for a weekend. Who do you know that needs an encouraging word today? Call and encourage them. Look for someone to love. Be intentional, make a meal for a neighbor or a healthcare worker that you know. Right now, they are working long hours. Pay the rent for a widow who is currently unemployed. Whatever you do, focus on someone other than YOU. Let’s do what we should have been doing all along, LOVING our neighbor. What will you do with the breath you are given today? I’m choosing to live in love not fear.