We are in the Lenten Season. This is the apex of the Christian calendar, the triumphal shout of the resurrection victory of Christ after the dull ache of His brutal crucifixion at Calvary.
This year’s Easter Season is unlike any other we have experienced. In three short months, the entire world has been brought to its knees by an unseen but deadly enemy. Who would have thought it possible? The world’s greatest leaders and most powerful organizations have been rapidly reduced to commonality. No one is free from the vulnerability of the moment. Uncertainty and fear have replaced Gold and Bitcoin as global currency. The regular paraphernalia surrounding the holiday has been forgotten. Easter eggs and daffodils have taken a back seat to toilet paper and Purell hand sanitizer.
In the midst of this, we see “Man’s heart failing them for fear.” I may be in error in my prognosticating, but I am thinking that stress-related illness will kill more than the virus.
Yvonne and I are following the Healthy Authority’s suggestion that, because we are at a vulnerable age and normally in a highly public setting, we self-isolate until the end of March. That is not easy for my hyper-active personality. Please pray for Yvonne.
On the other hand, this has forced me to pull-back, slow-down, re-assess, re-calibrate and re-focus on life and ministry as-a-whole. Were my wheels really turning that fast? Yes, I am afraid they were.
I always have in the back of my mind a realization that this life is brief in light of eternity. It is a vapour, like the grass of the field which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven. But, isn’t it so easy to become mired down in the frenzy of the moment? For me it is! There is still something in me that makes me think God is impressed with the volume of work I do.
I think perhaps in this Season in 2020, when I remember the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus, I will have the time and opportunity to look beyond COVID19, the cratering economic situation, and past the concerns of the post-COVID-19 recovery, to see My Lord High and lifted up, the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and End, the Author and FINISHER of my faith.
I want to re-connect with Jesus and sing these lyrics with new enthusiasm and meaning:
“My Jesus, my Saviour, Lord there in none like You. All of my days, I want to praise the wonders of Your mighty love. My comfort, my shelter, tower of refuge and strength: let every breath, all that I am, never cease to worship You.”
Hillsong 2010 – Shout to the Lord
I trust and pray that will be your experience as well. God has given us this moment to think on higher and loftier things.
If COVID-19 teaches me nothing else, that will have been enough.
May you have a blessed Resurrection Weekend,
Al is an experienced pastor and counselor who works out of our ABNWT District Resource Centre in Edmonton as the Pastoral Care Coordinator. A pastor to the pastors, Al is a friend, mentor, and confidante to all.