Pandemic Tip #1

March 18, 2020

Due to the current pandemic of the coronavirus (COVID – 19), services at Faith Alliance Church are suspended for March 22^nd and 29^th. Keep posted for the latest church news. Until then I will be posting some spiritual thoughts for all…

Our local TV station informed me last night that we have been without sports for 5 days. The sports reporter posted a video of him playing ball with his dog in what looked like the news room. Since much, if not all of the world is on voluntary to mandatory “lock down” I was wondering what there would be to do. How are we going to keep our sanity?

Playing ball with the dog or laser tag with the cat sounds fun. Eating with the family sounds intimidating. For some that means actually communicating. Maybe snuggling with your favorite person. All these are good, and maybe they are a much need Sabbath in our competitive and fast-moving world.

Speaking of Sabbath. It started when God created the world and rested on the seventh day. Genesis 2:2 – 3 states, “On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from ALL his work. ³ And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.” [NLT]

Wait, read that again. We are talking about the ALMIGHTY God, who can do whatever He wants, anyway He wants, anytime He wants. The ALMIGHT God took a day off. Let it sink in... The New Living Translation has a foot note that “rested” means He “ceased.”

Ummm, would that have caused everything to stop? After all Colossians 1:17 declares, “He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.” [NLT] So if God took a day off ALL his work including holding everything together; wouldn’t that cause everything to “fall apart at the seams?”

Or maybe God trusted His design to work the way it is supposed to work, at least for one day. Fragile yet durable. Dependent on rest. Now’s a good time to re-evaluate life-driving priorities, re-connect with our loved ones on a meaningful level, re-consider our spiritual path (as in; does it lead to heaven).

So my first bit of advice during this pandemic is “rest.” My suspicion is this is the time for everyone to "give careful thought" to their eternal destiny.