Covid-19. It’s a bit like a curse word to me. I have had enough social distancing to last me a lifetime. I think…

I could list a million negative impacts from this pandemic but to skip over the positive would not do justice to how God has been moving among us.

It is always easy to find the negative. Let’s just be honest with each other. When our plans are changed, our schedules rearranged, it hits us hard. We scramble to find the normalcy in our situation. We try to take the lemons and make lemonade…but this time there is no sugar and the lemons are rotten.

At least, that is how it felt to me when it all started.

I get comfortable in my schedules. I like things a certain way, at certain times. Don’t rock my boat! Yet, when all this happened and my boat was rocked, I found myself wondering what in the world was really going on. I quickly forgot who was in control of the world. I failed to remember the sovereignty of the Lord. Without realizing it, I took God off the throne and got concerned. How long will this go on? What if we can’t make it? How will this affect the future?

And so, God gently reminded me that He had not relinquished His rule. It didn’t happen overnight. In fact, it took a few weeks. Once I was reminded of this, however, my eyes were open, and I began to see God’s hand all over the place!

More than that, the most positive thing about this pandemic is God pointed some things out in my Spirit, in my heart, that were defunct. Not only did he point them out, but He lovingly showed me how much better things could be if I made adjustments. Things I had resisted in His Word were brought to light.

It’s funny how caught up we can get in our ways, our life, and our schedule. We are so caught up we begin to miss the voice of God. We begin to stop listening and we don’t even realize it.

That’s where I was. Not listening. Clueless that I had stopped.

Suddenly, life changed. God got my attention. He got the attention of the whole world. And I found that I had no choice but to listen. It started out quietly. A stirring. A small whisper. A nudging that had not been felt in too long. A beckoning call to my Spirit.

A new friend. An inviting challenge. A desire for more.

And the pieces fell into place. What I had been missing. What I had been hung up on. What had been holding me back in areas of my life.

And then there was freedom!

Restoration. Enlightenment. And sweet joy.

I am a firm believer that God never leaves you where you are. He always wants to bring you closer. Draw you in further. Allow you to know Him more deeply. He keeps calling, nudging, whispering, and yes, even causing things in life to stand still if so needed, all in an effort to maintain relationship.

Covid-19. It was a bit like a curse word to  me. I thought I had enough social distancing to last me a lifetime but if God chooses to speak to me through it, I will take it over and over again.

1 Kings 19:11-13 ~ God always finds us. He doesn’t leave us as we are, instead, He calls to us and invites us to move forward with Him.