What worked before may not work now

We're living in a different world.  Different from the way things were.  This pandemic has brought us to our knees collectively.  Hopefully, it has caused us to stop short and take stock in life itself.  

The pandemic is a reminder of what we knew all along but pushed to the back of our minds - life is fragile.  Life is unpredictable.  Life is not something to be controlled.

Whatever we are in the habit of seeking for security, comfort, truth, and peace, these are what we will seek during a pandemic.  We will not suddenly become something different from what we were.  We are all creatures of habit.

If you were accustomed to turning to food or alcohol  or the internet or work for comfort or escape, then you most likely turned to it even more during this time.  

If you like to control, be in control, then you will tighten the reins.  Only how in the heck to you control a pandemic?  You don't.

If you have been a Christian for any length of time, you have probably formed some spiritual disciplines.  Habits.  Maybe you have a daily quiet time.  Or you set aside time to pray each day.  Maybe you fast, as led by the Lord.

These are all very good and necessary habits that the Lord uses to mature us in our faith.

But there are spiritual seasons just as in nature.

Some seasons require different habits than others. Or varying efforts of those habits.

This current season of quarantining, over a million deaths worldwide, uncertainty of the economic future - it's enough to make you wonder how it's all going to end.  

We're doing our best to live life "as usual," but it is not usual.  Not at all.  So how do we face it?  Not by burying our heads in the sand.  And our old coping mechanisms may no longer do the trick if they were faulty to begin with.

How do we know when our spiritual practices are no longer working?  

In all of life, we are either advancing or retreating.  There is no sedentary in the spiritual realm.  

Our former ways of coping and dealing with stress and the unknown factor may no longer work for us.

We must be willing to change.

How to not be affected or laid low by these times?  The only way I know that truly works is to stay close to the Lord.  But first, you need a relationship with Him.

How close I stayed to Him before this mess may no longer work as well - I need to stay even closer to Him, more sensitive to His Spirit, leaning ever more heavily on His understanding, ways, and Presence than ever before.  

I know He will carry me through this.  And He will carry you too, if you will let Him.  I trust Him implicitly because, as always, He knows exactly what He is doing.  Nothing takes Him by surprise.  

Have the guts to admit what may no longer be working for you any more.  Then, turn to the only One Who truly knows what is going on, how long it will last, and Who is in absolute control always, and find the peace, comfort, and security that your soul hungers for.  Turn to Christ.