No Fear of Covid 19

The crocuses are glorious in their deep and pale purples and bright golds. Daffodils are through and forming and getting ready to open trumpets of yellow, proclaiming the faithfulness of our God. Spring is springing, just as it does every year.

Though troubles abound, uncertainties can undermine, and fears can overwhelm, our hope is in the name of the Lord, who has made heaven and earth. He doesn’t slumber or sleep. Covid-19 has not taken him by surprise. He knows the right response.

When Peter walked on the water, focused on Jesus, he was fine. It was only when he let the winds and waves distract him that he began to sink.

Now is the moment when we believers have opportunity to show the strength of faith in the King of Kings, how it keeps us from being overwhelmed in an atmosphere of growing anxiety and fear.

The only thing we want to bulk buy into is prayer time with the Lord. Self-isolation frees us up to indulge in this, rather than slumping before hair-raising stories on the internet of what is coming next. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; the fear of Covid-19 is the beginning of meltdown.

Such faith doesn’t fly in the face of caution and restraint. As we love our Lord, so our love for sisters and brothers is deepened and we make every effort not to endanger anyone through recklessness or negligence.

Keep safe everyone. God bless you.

Focus

Not that I’ve ever done ballet, but I believe that when you are doing those spins the trick to not getting dizzy and sick is to focus on one point and keep your focus there with each revolution.

I remember a story someone told me about crossing a ravine on a shuggly jungle Indiana-Jones-type bridge. Totally freaking out, she was only able to make it across the abyss by focusing all her attention on her boyfriend on the other side. As long as she stared at him she kept putting one foot in front of the other. When she couldn’t resist the temptation, and looked down, she froze, paralysed with fear.

This is obviously a powerful image with a real nugget of truth in it. One of the Indiana Jones movies has the intrepid hero having to exercise incredible faith and step out onto an invisible bridge stretching over another killer abyss. As he stepped, the foothold came up to meet him and he successfully traversed the crevasse.

Paul writes that in life we are to focus our eyes on Jesus. If we want to do great things, or at least do ordinary things with confidence and a degree of ‘greatness’, we need to fix our eyes on Jesus and step out. Many things in life feel like an abyss. Much of it has to do with the unknown. Much of the fear comes from lack of self-confidence as we step out into uncharted territory. 

Maintaining focus on Jesus requires more than nodding assent to the truth that this is a good idea. It needs deliberate effort, or at least it does in my case. Reminding myself of God’s faithfulness and love by listening to inspiring and encouraging praise CDs. Reading Scripture and meditating on key verses and promises. Remembering God’s faithfulness through past testing times. Relying on the prayers of friends and family. 

Church – the body of believers who support each other – is God’s idea, and I am grateful, oh so grateful, for this wonderful body of disparate people united by one thing: focusing on Jesus.

Keep focused

Every time I open up my blog or email account, I get an advertising band across the bottom with a gyrating torso showing the difference between a flat and a fat tummy, and how to achieve the most attractive results. I am a little paranoid of malicious attacks on my computer and am quick to close it down. But it annoys me.

Similarly, so often now when I go to make an on-line purchase, before my next chosen page opens I am shunted off to an on-line marketing questionnaire and promised if I answer a couple of simple questions, I’m in with a chance to win a new I-pad/phone. Again, with irritation I close the thing down, this time not so much agitated that I’m under malicious attack but that my privacy is being invaded and compromised.

It’s really hard to stay focused when so many interruptions conspire against it. One of my main reasons for resisting the temptation to open a Facebook account is that I will find my time compromised because I become distracted. Maybe that says more about me and my weakness than about any external interruption.

I don’t think I am unique though, and I believe that in this noisy, busy world, it takes determination and concentration to remain focused.

There’s a Christian song from a couple of decades ago with the lines, ‘Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.’ 

Good, healthy advice.

St Paul advises that we fix our eyes on Jesus, who loves us, who prays for us, who longs for us to just slip aside into a lay-by and sit with him. It takes determination and self-discipline and practice to do this. 

I have been blessed by the benefits of doing it, yet even knowing that, I am still easily distracted. Sometimes I think the distractions may originate from a malicious source seeking to subvert my highest, but perhaps weak, desires to glorify God. But most of the time I think the distractions are simply there for their own purposes – to sell me something, or get me to sign up for something.

This is the day the Lord has made – rainy and windy as it is. I am deciding right now, before 9 am, to rejoice and be glad in it, to spend time focusing on Jesus and listening to hear that still small voice, to notice his loving presence in my life. To remain focused, undistracted.

How about you?

Distracted

Distractions – I think I know something about them! How easy it is to get side-tracked and lose sight of the goal! 

Just back from walking Dusty near Drum Castle. We do that walk every so often, but not so frequently that we know every trail. So today we got distracted down a path well-trodden, but which did not lead to the pond Dusty longed to find. We had to turn back, retrace our steps, and then we found it. Nothing, then, could distract Dusty from swimming for sticks in a pond overflowing into a downhill stream. 

Paul wrote to his protégé Timothy, encouraging him not to get distracted from his task, which was sharing the good news that Jesus Christ died and was resurrected to new life in which believers can participate. He specifically names some common distractions. Worthless words that lead to godless lives. ‘Youthful lusts’ which lead many astray. Time spent – wasted – joining in worldly activities. Foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights. 

Stick to the point. Don’t lose sight of the goal. Focus. 

Focus on Jesus, the author and perfector of our souls. Everything else fades by comparison to the glory that is in him.

I've been distracted; I've got an e-mail to compose.