Proverbs 24:3-4
By wisdom a house is built,
and by understanding it is established;
by knowledge the rooms are filled
with all precious and pleasant riches.
Fill your house with wisdom, knowledge and understanding — no one will notice your furniture.
We’re all stuck at home.
How’s yours?
Got it under control?
Psalm 127:1 (ESV)
Unless the LORD builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Bless your home. Let God do the heavy lifting.
We’re looking forward to getting our lives back to normal. For some people, normal is long gone. Consider this from The Nation:
“Major world disasters produce multiple ripple effects . . . In the case of Covid-19, the first wave was the global health crisis, still spreading around the world. Next came the stay-at-home requirements and the resulting shutdown of the world economy, resulting in massive job layoffs everywhere. These, in turn, are producing a third wave, possibly even more catastrophic in its outcome: the collapse of global food-supply systems and widespread human starvation.”
It’s hard to know when the time is right to get back to work. Those making the decisions are sheltering in safe places and have more than enough to eat. The outcome of their choices impacts people who are less than safe now and at risk for future disaster.
Lord, may our prayers produce multiple ripples to make this world a safer place–not only for ourselves, but for all those now living on the edge. Avert disaster, we pray, in Jesus’ name.
Survive: continue to exist
Revive: restore, renew
Thrive: grow vigorously, flourish
Lord God, I don’t want to merely survive COVID’s isolation. Revive me during this time. I want to thrive!
Social distancing bringing you to tears?
Fear not! It won’t last forever.
Psalm 30:5b (NIV)
Weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.
Embrace hope! Morning is coming. 
You plead with God.
God says, “No.”
Is this a problem?
Know this. God isn’t trying to punish you. He knows what’s best for you.
Hebrews 4:13 (CEV)
Nothing is hidden from God!
Apathetic:
with no interest or concern.
Empathetic:
able to understand and share the feelings.
We’ve been practicing social distancing for a while now. Has it made you more empathetic towards folks who routinely live in isolation?
Hebrews 4:15 (NIV)
For we do not have a high priest [Jesus] who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet he did not sin.
No apathy, more empathy–more like Christ.
The social distancing continues.
Are you missing the multitude?
Enjoying the solitude?
Matthew 14:13-14
When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
Jesus–good in a crowd, good all alone. And you?
Tired of the unending social distancing?
This old hymn speaks to our need:
“Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land,
A weary land, a weary land;
Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land,
A shelter in the time of storm.”
Vernon J. Charlesworth (1838-1915)
Charlesworth understood “shelter.” He served more than 40 years as the headmaster of Charles Spurgeon’s Stockwell Orphanage near London. It offered fatherless boys safe shelter, food and education in a loving, Christian environment. It was a kinder alternative to the grim workhouses where the poor did hard labor in return for inadequate food and minimal shelter.
Lord God, be our sheltering Rock in this weary time, in Jesus’ name.
Leviticus 19:32 (MSG)
Show respect to the aged;
honor the presence of an elder.
Even if you’re not at risk, follow the guidelines. You owe it to your parents and grandparents.
Or perhaps your presence in their lives is the best protection you can offer.
