How a Season of Isolation Might Be the Best Thing Ever
These are very strange times, indeed. We weren’t made for “social distancing.” Created in the image of God, we were made for community. “It is not good for man to be alone,” God said. But now that this has been forced upon us, there are some things we can do to make this a profitable time in our lives.
For some of our church family, life continues as normal for those in vital spheres of industry and management. Our brave health workers and doctors are working harder than ever, and we are immensely proud of them right now. But for others, life has slowed down, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. For those confined to home, may I suggest some ways that might make this period of isolation a better one?
First, use this time to improve your devotional life. Typically, too many of us are in such a rush in the mornings that we find ourselves “crazy busy,” and prayer, if there is any, is a sentence or two, hurriedly uttered while doing several other things. Not that “arrow-like” prayers are wrong. Not at all! Nehemiah famously prayed a quick prayer while facing his master, King Artaxerxes, who had the power to execute him had he replied to the question put to him incorrectly (Nehemiah 2:1-4). But we need some structure. It is all too easy to become legalistic in these things. “You should rise at 4:00 a.m. and read several chapters of Scripture and spend at least two hours in prayer every day.” Right! I am so not a morning person! I tried this at one point in my life and kept falling asleep! I would wake up, my Bible on my lap. It profited me nothing. So, let’s avoid being legalistic about this, but let’s make sure that we do read Scripture and pray in some ordered and structured way.
Second, pray with us. We are going all digital for our weekly Wednesday prayer meetings. As you read this, the first attempt will have already taken place, but we will be doing this (via Zoom) every Wednesday evening at 6:00 p.m. This week, over a hundred joined together in groups of a 10-12 to pray for our world right now. You can sign up online or the app. Try it. We need you.
Third, reach out electronically to as many as you can. If you are able, text them, call them, or email them. We are a church family and we miss each other. And especially over Easter. Imagine, we will not be gathering for church at Easter! We will be doing most of what we had planned and will be letting you know all of the details shortly . But do make a note that we will have our Maundy Thursday service on Thursday at 7:00 p.m., a Good Friday service at noon on Friday, and our Easter service at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on Sunday. He is Risen!
Derek W.H. Thomas
Senior Minister
