Becoming

What will we be like when this pandemic is over?

If you’re like me, you’ve thought about the things you want to do and the people you want to see and hug when these COVID-19 sanctions lift. This time sequestered in our homes has given us all a greater appreciation for things and people we once took for granted.

But what if this time has been about more than that?

What if we have an opportunity to not just exit out of this experience, but emerge from it?

What if this time we’ve been in hasn’t been so much a holding tank, but a cocoon?

As a Christian, I’ve been in awe at how this quarantine experience has made my anticipation of this Easter even more meaningful.

As I look forward to celebrating Christ’s resurrection this Sunday, there are some insights I’m having as I walk through these holy days just before.

1.Before there can be a resurrection, there must be a death. We celebrate Christ’s resurrection because he was faithful first to die on the cross for us. We don’t always get to fast forward to the happy ending. We usually get walk through and learn from each page of our lives. This chapter of quarantine has been one that has handed many of us an opportunity to die to certain things we’ve relied too heavily upon.

2.Some things must die – Bad habits, addictions, character flaws, relationship issues all have a way of rearing their heads in a time like this. Chances are good that you already know what your issues are, and you’ve tried several ways to improve in these areas. But what if the real thing that needs to be laid down in this season is our sense of self sufficiency to take care of these issues ourselves? Only God can bring a dead relationship back to life. Only God can straighten the places where we’ve gone askew. Certainly, there will be things we get to do in partnership with God, but the main is challenge we face is handing Him the controls.


3.Some things get to die – So many of us have things we’ve had to cancel or miss because of quarantine -- proms, graduations, birthdays, wedding and anniversary celebrations, trips abroad, business plans. The list goes on and on. Surrendering our plans and disappointment to God is hard and it can hurt. Jesus is our example in this struggle. He has felt the agony of surrendering to God’s will. He prayed on the Mount of Olives right before he was betrayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” In his humanity Jesus agonized over what he knew was ahead of him and longed for a different way to work things out. But he surrendered his will to God’s bigger plan.


4.Death and surrender can make rich soil -- Death isn’t the end. As we surrender more fully to God, it creates this beautiful fertile place where God can do a new thing in us. It opens the door to the bigger redemption story He has written for us to walk out. In the end, we will see our plans were too small.

As I approach this Good Friday, and I remember the sacrifice Jesus made for me, I am asking myself what places I’ve struggled giving up during this time. I’m choosing to loosen my grip on those things and make them my offering to God. And in that place, I’m believing for a resurrection that only God could bring.