By all accounts, we are walking through unfamiliar territory.
No school for 2 weeks? Not even snow in the South could do that! Not to mention the President & CDC’s advice to stay close to home & avoid all nonessential things outside of the home.
It’s not hard to imagine our souls shriveling in these days.
Like muscles that atrophy without being engaged, the daily & weekly rhythms of our lives are not merely “the things we do,” they are the practices that encourage our faith towards God & love towards others. Many of them—corporate worship, coffee with girlfriends, social gatherings, small group, etc—are vital to keeping our soul in shape.
So, what do we do now?
6 Ways to Feed Your Soul:
1. Memorize a psalm together as a family.
Instead of having the main thread between your conversations be the coronavirus, make it a psalm. Form your conversations intentionally around the matchless power & steadfast love of God.
Psalm 121 is great one to memorize—the kids will love it too!
2. Call or FaceTime a friend each day to check in.
Introverts like being alone, but this much alone time might even challenge them!
Call a friend each day to check in. You too guys! Ask the normal questions that you would ask when you saw them—How are you? How is that thing we have been praying about?
Maybe someone from Community Group or a friend from school or an out-of-town family member.
Resist the temptation to isolate yourself or to reduce friendship to catching up by our social media feeds.
3. Listen to this message from Bill Kittrell on Isaiah 8 & Fear.
Bill—the senior pastor of Cornerstone—is my mentor & one of my best friends.
More importantly, his teaching on fear & anxiety have greatly served me over the years. And, this message is another example of why.
4. Talk with your children.
Your kids are always listening to your conversations. If you are afraid or anxious, they probably are too. If you are dismissive, they are probably that too. They are listening & following.
Take up the coronavirus & use it to teach them about the character of God:
First off, educate them on the virus. This SHORT PODCAST is for kids & very helpful.
Second, discuss it. What do they think? How does it make them feel? Fearful? Afraid? Confused?
Third, rehearse the promises of God (Isaiah 43:1-7; Romans 8:28-39) & why we should not be afraid.
5. Pray.
James 4:2 says, You do not have, because you do not ask. Let’s not let the coronavirus hang around because we never asked it to leave!
God loves to hear & answer prayers (Ps. 86:5-7).
John Piper says it so well:
“When God hungers for some special satisfaction, he seeks out a prayer to answer . . . The food of God is to answer our prayers. The most wonderful thing about the Bible is that it reveals a God who satisfies his appetite for joy by answering prayers. . . . Psalm 50:13-15, ‘Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?’ Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call upon him in the day of trouble, and he will deliver you, and you will glorify him.’ The demonstration of the glory of God in answered prayer is God’s special feast.”
Takeaway: Pray each night for God to protect someone you know that is “more vulnerable”—either because of their age or a series underlying health condition.
6. Rest.
After you’ve done some of those things, don’t just let your time fritter away in news updates & social media.
Read a book that takes you to another world. (Right now, I—Walt—am reading All the Light We Cannot See about WWII & am loving where it takes me each day.)
Watch a (wholesome) movie, like Nacho Libre!
Take a nap.
We were not made to keep going late into the night & back at it early the next morning. We need rest. Maybe one of the purposes of the coronavirus could be for us to slow down, rest, & realize God is doing just fine taking care of everything without our help!
