In many ways, this current season feels harder than the initial lockdown a few months ago. At the beginning, we experienced the urgency of responding to a crisis and felt a strong collective sense that we were navigating this season together. Individually, we had high hopes of what we’d achieve in lockdown. We had books to read and new skills to learn!
Over the past couple of months, things have slowed down. Even though lockdown has eased, life can feel like drudgery, as we’re trudging through our daily routine, trying to summon up the energy to get through the day, with no end in sight. Perhaps we feel slightly aimless, as our goals and plans have been delayed. I’ve spoken to a number of people who’ve experienced a feeling of weariness, lethargy and sometimes a sense of despair as getting back to normal seems further away than ever!
The more I reflect on it, the more I’m convinced that this season should be viewed as a slow trek through the desert. You might feel a little weary and sometimes lack motivation, but you need to keep going because the last thing you want to do is collapse in the desert! I’m convinced that this season requires us to develop good habits that help us to persevere! Here are four.
1. Lament
There is a lot about this season that can feel difficult. Missing friends. Missing church in person. Lost opportunities. The pain won’t necessarily feel acute but sometimes more like a dull ache. It’s essential that we learn how to bring our grief and sorrows to God in prayer. This is not the same as wallowing in self-pity, or meditating on your disappointments, but a recognition that we worship a good father who cares for us, and promises to comfort the afflicted (Isa 49.13). Whilst it’s important we allow God’s truth to reshape our thoughts and feelings, this doesn’t mean denying our emotions. Quite the opposite. It means recognising our fears and grief, articulating them to God and ‘casting’ them on him (1 Peter 5.7).
2. Give thanks
Paradoxically, I think it’s also essential that we practice the discipline of giving thanks. If you read through Paul’s prayers in his letters, you’ll be surprised how much his prayer life feels full of gratitude despite sometimes being in prison, experiencing physical hardship (beatings!), sleepless nights and rejection. Though his circumstances are (humanly) awful, he’s full of joy and gratitude, which sustains him through the trials. Gratitude is a great antidote to despair and self-pity. This could become a daily discipline as you give thanks for the many ways you experience God’s kindness. As you give thanks, you are training your heart to see God’s gifts to you and remember his fatherly care for us.
3. Show hospitality
Lockdown has had the inevitable effect of weakening the relationships that exist between us. We feel more distant from each other. It would be easy to withdraw and develop a more introverted existence. It’s essential we run in precisely the opposite direction and seek to proactively invest in our relationships. I think this means hospitality i.e. inviting people into your home (if that’s safe for you), being intentional about visiting (or calling) other people and making full use of London’s green spaces with folk from church. We’ve been doing a bit more hospitality recently, as our little girl is 8 weeks old (we weren’t doing so much when she first arrived). It has been so life-giving to have people into our home, to share food, to laugh together and to really understand what’s going on under the surface. Face-to-face contact seems to generally give us gives us a much better context to be vulnerable and honest in a liberating way.
4. Trust that this time is not wasted
One of the great challenges of this time is the feeling that life is on pause. We’re waiting till when we can ‘get back to normal’. It’s like living in an airport lounge, waiting for your flight. The problem is that airport lounges usually feel quite boring! I don’t think we can live with a posture of waiting for the end of lockdown. Instead, we have to ask, how does God want to use this time in our lives? Part of this is knowing and remembering that God uses trials like this to discipline and shape us and to make us more like Christ. But I think this requires us to think outside of ourselves. Who are the people in the church family who I can encourage, disciple or support? Do I have friends (or family) who I can reconnect with and initiate a spiritual dialogue? Do I have neighbours who I can seek to befriend and serve? This might involve stepping outside of our comfort zone, but the time is ideal for us to be more intentional about connecting with our neighbours. As we do that, we look for opportunities to share our lives and our faith.
If you’re persevering with the Lord and still connected to the church family, well done! Don't give up! Much has changed and the near future is (in human terms) uncertain, but let’s keep up the simple routines of worshipping God, connecting with each other and seeking to serve those around us!