Everyone seems to be at the edge of their seat, waiting for things to go back to “normal.”
You and I both have heard it one hundred times, and maybe even said it once or twice. “I can’t wait until things go back to “normal.”
Despite having that moment a year ago when you were hitting the snooze on your alarm wishing you could just have a day to sleep in.
Despite reviewing your overwhelming schedule and thinking to yourself “I do not have one day for self-care” anytime soon, and begging God to give you a day off…
Despite enduring so many days when you left for work before the kids got up, and did not return until after they went to bed…
But now that everything has changed, countless people are longing to go back to what they know. Right now we are all enduring an incredibly uncomfortable season of unusual and unknowns.
Therefore, you might find yourself making paper chains, ripping a loop off each day, to represent just how many days until NORMALCY returns. However, because this situation is not normal you acknowledge that there is no way of knowing when life will start to feel more like home, and you find yourself adding more loops to your paper chain as things continue to change.
But, I don’t believe the Lord moved the mountains over the last year just for everyone to go back to life as it used to be.
I don’t want to negate for one moment that this is not incredibly difficult. So many people are realizing now that the thing they used to beg God to take away was much more tolerable than the situation they are in now.
Countless lives have been lost and loved ones are grieving. People have lost their jobs, and homes, and don’t have money to provide themselves with their basic needs, etc. It is difficult to homeschool your children while also maintaining your job, and learning how to adapt to your new lifestyle.
This is not near a comprehensive list, but my point in bringing them up is to acknowledge that these situations are real and you are recognized.
AND, while there are so many frustrations and broken hearts, there are also so many lessons we have learned.
None of the events that have occurred over the past few months are new creations. All of them have been happening since the beginning of time. But the world is just starting to recognize and experience what others have been facing every day.
One thing I know for sure is that the Lord will use all things for good. My all-time favorite Bible verse is Romans 5:1-5.
Paul writes, “Therefore since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
Romans 5:1-5 NIV
I choose to live each day looking up at the sun, with my arms open wide to endless possibilities. Therefore, it is so easy for me to find joy even in the midst of a storm, most of the time…
The Lord promises us so many times our suffering makes us stronger and better.
Instead of dwelling on how much 2020 has stung, and how much you wish things were different… I encourage you to take each moment as it comes, asking God what He is teaching you at that very moment.
I encourage you to acknowledge even the tiniest speck of light in every moment. Even when the world feels as if it is crashing down. I promise there is glory to be found in the darkest moments. God is very intentional and He has not made an error yet. I promise His intentions are good.
Hallie Orton 