It was right around March of 2020 that I believe we really started to feel the effects of the pandemic where I am living in the midwestern Wisconsin. As I witnessed the energy of St.Patrick's Day hustling around yesterday, I reflected on whether humanity desires a life of the past or of the future.
I believe that, for the most part, God is currently working in circumstantial ways for us and in real time. What I mean by this is that I believe God is establishing you right now as we speak.
When I talk to people about their inner reflections of the pandemic, I find that a selection of those reflections mirror my own while others do not at all.
For me, I whole heartedly feel that God was showing me how to truly slow down and rest in Him and Him alone. It was a time to stop relying on materials and the chatter of man-made wisdoms to connect to God. It served as an opportunity to go directly to His Source and to rest in the knowing that no one knows it all; not even our governments, leaders, or those who hold PhDs
Who can straighten
What he has made crooked?
When times are good, be happy;
But when times are bad, consider this:
God has made the one
As well as the other.
Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future.
Ecclesiastes 10:10-14
I honestly find Ecclesiastes book to be the most comforting. It is a reminder to me that no one knows but God.
While we may have wisdom from God, we are not given full reign of that wisdom. This used to bother me. God, why are you sending me this information if I do not know what to do with it?
God gave me a visual in response to this question. He showed me a seed, soil, and a watering can. To know God's wisdom is to hold the seed within the soil of your heart because God needs someone who is going to hold the seed while He waters it.
You don't necessarily need to water the wisdom or know how or where it will grow.
He just needs One present being; one soiling pot.
In due time, when God shows the world what he is trying or has grown, he will have people who can explain it to others or who ironically already know how to handle the situation calmly, and with love.
But right now, I don't think anyone in our leadership roles or in general life roles has been present enough for that type of movement. Are we ready for the stillness and the unknown? Are we okay with not knowing? Why does knowing bring us so much comfort and not knowing paralyze us?
The stillness that I'm recommending is not numbness or becoming paralyzed but rather, it is moist, loamy soil. It is a sponge taking in the baptism of God's love.
God even chooses the least expected places to grow in. I was always amazed at the plants growing at the volcano in Hawaii. Even in destruction, He is growing life in real time. If we are present enough to witness the destruction without interfering, God can turn ashes into a richly green landscape where anything can bloom.
We are living through and witnessing a world of "reaction" rather than resting. We are observers of the nervous system at a chaotic visceral level.
In a way, I believe that there is nothing wrong with all of the chaos either. In order to let go of something detrimental to our lives, we need it to essentially show us how detrimental it really is. "It has to get worse before it can get better."
I remember that when I finally told my family about my sexual abuse, I was knee deep in intoxication. It did not get better after that. It became worse as I relived the trauma but I was reliving the trauma with resting periods; something I did not receive at the age of 12.
I suspect that what God is doing for us right now is much better than it is bad. He is establishing us for the better but better doesn't mean righteous in wisdom.
The basic meaning of Ecclesiastes can be summed up as, "God is already giving us the answers but we search and seek for schemes which is a meaningless task to do when no one on Earth knows what is right or wrong."
God is watching our patience and faith closely right now.
I kind of feel like God is lovingly saying, "Please, get out of my way and wait."
It isn't easy but I believe it's better to stop at that red light than it is to blow through it and risk getting hit by a speeding car.
As you do not know the path of the wind,
Or how the body is formed in a mother's womb,
So you cannot understand the work of God,
The Maker of all things.
Sow your seed in the morning,
And at evening let your hands not be idle,
For you do not know which will succeed,
Whether this or that,
Or whether both will do equally well.
Ecclesiastes 11: 5-6
