The COVID-19 pandemic has been a wake-up call for people around the world, reminding us all of these truths: Life is precious. Life is fragile. Life is short. So many facets of modern, American life that we once assumed to be constant, we now view as uncertain. Will my job still exist next month? Can I go grocery shopping without contracting an illness? Will there be any meat, hand sanitizer, or toilet paper in the store this time?
God has gotten our attention. What are we going to do about it? This awkward time of socially distancing from others is an awesome opportunity for spiritual closeness with our Creator. “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8). If we listen carefully for His voice in the pages of Scripture and in the spiritual promptings deep within our hearts, I believe we will hear God calling us to do three things: “Return! Restart! Revive!”
Return!
“Return…to the Lord your God” (Hosea 14:1).
Many of us are eager to “return to normal” – to return to work, to school, and to church. Can you also sense that tug in your heart to return to God? Turning implies a change of direction. We make a u-turn whenever we realize we are going the wrong way. Newsflash: We are going the wrong way! Our lives are filled to the brim with ourselves. We focus on what makes us happy or comfortable. We dither away our irreplaceable moments with worthless pursuits.
In times of calamity and plague, God is calling to us to return to Him. “If my people…will turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sins, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:13-14). Like the father of the prodigal in Luke 15, God is watching and waiting for us to come to our senses and get up and return to our Father. Then He will run to us, surround us with His loving presence, and knock our socks off with His goodness to us! That’s the character of our loving Father! Come home to Him today. It’s not too late to return.
Check out the music Video “When God Ran” by Phillips, Craig and Dean.
Restart!
“You must be born again” (John 3:7).
What is the first thing technical support tells you to do when you call about your computer or internet router? Restart. Rebooting a computer allows it to clear the memory and start over whenever it gets frozen or stuck. Newsflash: We are stuck! Do you ever feel like a hamster, endlessly running on your wheel? “Jane, stop this crazy thing!” Sometimes, life needs to reboot.
How surprised Nicodemus must have been when Jesus told him that he needed to be “born again”! Just as we have all had a physical birth, we all need a spiritual birth … a reboot … a restart. Even if you have already had your life restarted by Jesus, He lovingly reminds us that each day is a fresh start with Him. “His mercies are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:23). Our spiritual lives are too infected with the viruses of the world, the flesh, and the devil (Mark 4:15-17; Ephesians 2:1-3). This pandemic is an opportunity to press the “Restart” button and begin again with our loving, Heavenly Father.
Check out the music video “Restart” by the Newsboys.
Revive!
“Revive us again, so that Your people may rejoice in you” (Psalm 85:6).
“Clear!”
With urgent determination, the emergency room trauma staff place defibrillator paddles on the patient’s chest and press the button to send 200 Joules of electricity surging into the dying body in an attempt to restart the heart and revive the person. Countless multitudes have been brought back to life since the advent of this life-saving invention. The living do not need to be revived, only those who are dead. Newsflash: We are dead! Our once burning blaze of passion for Jesus has dwindled to barely a flicker. We need a jolt of Holy Spirit power. We need to be revived!
What joy we experience when we first turn our lives over to Jesus! Has that joy waned for you? Do you still burn when you read Paul’s words, “I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:7)? Or do you need to cry out with King David, “Restore the joy of your salvation to me” (Psalm 51:12). Early church father Irenaeus famously said, “The glory of God is a man fully alive.” Are you fully alive, or do you need to be revived?
Check out the music video “Old Church Choir” by Zach Williams.
“Return! Restart! Revive!”
Hear what God is saying to us in this pandemic. Will we heed His call, or — God forbid — will we allow life return back to “normal”?