I’ve only been to the store twice in 6 weeks. As I was driving by the Fred Meyer I often pass on my way to work, I realized that I haven’t been in the store since the Washington “Stay at Home” order went into effect. That’s highly unusual. Prior to COVID-19, I would stop at Fred Meyer at least once a week, just because it was convenient to run in and grab something I had forgotten on my last trip.
The wilderness can be very disruptive because it unveils what we take for granted (for better or for worse). These can be things as simple as stopping to pick up something at the grocery store to much deeper and more profound things like meaningful relationships or the frenetic activity that helps us hide from our brokenness or inadequacy. What have you been taking for granted, that may have been unmasked in this season of sequestering?
The positive side of this experience is that the wilderness provides us with a moment to recalibrate. Taking the accessibility of food and other items for granted, as small a thing it seems to be, has led to two places of recalibration for me (maybe you can resonate with these): 1. a failure to be deeply grateful for all the “regular” blessing that God has provided; and 2. a tendency to be less thoughtful about how I invest my time.
This isn’t a huge revelation (though there have been a few of those too), but it is a point of transformation. The author of Hebrews tells us to lay aside “every weight” in order to “run with endurance the race set before us.” That includes the small and seemingly unimportant weights (like taking simple things for granted) as well as the significant ones (like areas of sin, relational wounds, and regret).
I’m not interested in building a whole new set of resolutions for after the “Stay at Home” order is lifted - that might just be too overwhelming - but I also want to be careful that I don’t just resume the patterns that I had prior to the disruption. The wilderness gives us an opportunity to identify points we need to recalibrate our thoughts, our behaviors, our values. Let’s not squander the moment.
Pursue Christ – He is enough,
Pastor Jeff