I was asked at the beginning of this pandemic if we are under the Judgement of God? I’ll be honest, this is what I first thought. Before this all happened in the world, people have been drifting further and further away from God’s rule. We have set up other god’s in our life; sports, career, money, possessions just to name a few. Since we have been ordered to stay home, all these god’s have fallen away. There is no sports, people have been unemployed, and the stock market spiraled our of control. On top of that, we have time to spare in our days.

But, is this God’s judgment?

Everywhere I see in scripture, when God sends a plague or pestilence, there is mass casualties. The world then was not as populated as it is now. So, I do not believe this is God’s judgement on the earth. I do however believe, that the Lord uses times like this to grab our attention so that we can eliminate the god’s / idols in our lives to seek Him more completely. Now, if we do not eliminate these idols in our lives, them I believe that God’s judgement then comes. We see this pattern over and over in the Nation Israel in the Old Testament (just read the book of Judges, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, and pretty much all the prophets).

So we have an opportunity before us.

It looks like the world (at least the United Sates) is starting to move toward reopening. As we do, each day presents the decision to serve the Lord or to serve the god’s that have been eliminated overt the last 3 months. We have the opportunity to define what normal is going to look like. We have been given a huge “reset” and we better grab a hold of it. So here is a suggestion of what normal may look like and how we can define it:

1. Give your life as worship. Everything you do, do to the glory of God. This is our main purpose in life. I will add, that when we start to gather as communities of faith – do not neglect in gathering for corporate worship. We need each other and we worship God in community.
2. Be bold in sharing Jesus. This is very hard for most of us. But I will say that there is a openness for the Good News of Jesus like never before. Every relationship and interaction is a opportunity to plant a seed of hope in people lives. I have said this before this pandemic and I’ll say it now – we are living on the eve of a great spiritual awakening. God wants to use every one of us to spread His gospel.
3. Continue to grow in Christ-like character. Before this pandemic, the #1 excuse I heard for not reading or studying the bible is there was no time. This excuse is 100% eliminated. If this becomes an excuse after this season, the you only have yourself to blame.
4. Use your gifts to serve the body of Christ. The Lord has given you amazing gifts to serve His body the church. When we all use our gifts, the whole Body of Jesus is built up in love. When we come to only consume a worship service or ministry, you actually contribute to the disunity of the Church and not the unity. Use your gifts to serve.
5. Remain connected to the body of Jesus. I am not talking about electronic connection. I am talking about a face-to-face regular personal interaction. This season has taught many of us that we really need each other. I see and hear a lot of people longing for relational connection. It is not surprise. We are wired for relationship and God ALWAYS uses relationships to change our life. You can shrink back and only have social media interaction, but In will guarantee that your life will not change.
6. Enjoy your family. In the past, we were all too busy to really enjoy those the Lord has given us. Do not let that slip away.

So we all have this before us. If you are a follower of Jesus, then the above things are really a no brainer to live into. If you are not a follower of Jesus, that is your first step. Once you have been given New Life, then you can live into the real purpose the Lord has for you. My prayer is that the Lord has grabbed your attention and you see the Life He has to offer you moving forward form this day on…