“Make the most of every opportunity to grow.”
I don’t know if you know this or not, but God loves to blow stuff up – mainly our boxes of who He is and what He can do.
We only know what we know when we know it. And in some cases, until what we know is blown up, we can’t make loving choices to follow Jesus.
We make decisions every day – good or bad, healthy or unhealthy. And we make them based on information already stored in our brains.
Biblically, bad decisions are based on one of two things. Either it’s choosing to act on the lies stored in our head (Jn. 8:32-33); or it’s our lack of faith in Jesus once the truth enters our brains (Matt. 14:27-31).
To get us off either starting point, God has to explode our way of thinking and/or our tiny faith. What’s His usual methodology? Suffering or challenges.
Romans 5:1-5 states that we are to rejoice in sufferings because it brings about character change. Hebrews 12:4-11 shows that we are to endure hardship as discipline because it produces righteousness and peace.
Many believers, maybe even you, are going stir crazy or are having a difficult time because of or with the CoVid-19 situation.
Maybe God is using it to blow up your boxes about Who He is – the source of truths you need to flush out the lies in your thinking.
Maybe He is using this situation to blow up your boxes about what He can do – be trusted to give you strength to act on the truths you already know.
You can stay rigid in your thinking or let the Spirit change it. You can keep repeating the same bad decisions or let the Spirit increase your faith.
Don’t let this momentous opportunity go to waste. Maybe God is blowing up some of your boxes!

“Lord, help my thoughts get beyond the struggles of life; and focus on You.”
Spoiler alert. The next few sentences may make you feel unsafe. Please stop reading if you’re having a bad day; but quite frankly, you’d only prove the point.
Jesus said, watch it, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.” Ouch. Sounds like bubble wrap popping!
He wasn’t done. He went on to say, “Rejoice and be glad” in the midst of the character attacks because you follow Him. He said do this because your reward is in heaven. (Read Matthew 5:11-12.)
Oh no! I’m actually to have the kind of faith that finds joy in the midst of suffering, even unjust suffering? Yup, and it involves taking a risk, which has become a dirty word in the Christian, let alone the secular world.
Risk means going to the store to pick up items for those who need them, hoping not to get hit by another driver, which happened to me. Risk means going to work as a pastor hoping to get paid, only to lose your house because you didn’t, which also happened to me.
Scripture doesn’t promise a risk-free safe zone type of existence. In fact, Hebrews 11:6 states that if we choose to please God we must take the risk that He actually rewards those who earnestly seek Him, which can cause unjust suffering.
Our walks with Jesus are not wrapped in plastic bubbles filled with air. Jesus said His followers would listen to and follow Him. There is simply no way of doing that without getting out of the “safe offensive-free zones.”
In the midst of life’s struggles, let’s do what a good friend of mine told to her grandchildren, “Go dig up some joy!”
People will want the Jesus we love and serve when despite the struggles, despite what others say or do to us, we have a smile on our faces put there by faith.
Be a risk taker. Go find some joy today. You will when you look to Jesus – the author and perfecter of risk takers like you.

“Faith isn’t the ability to believe long and far into the misty future. It’s simply taking God at His Word and taking the next step.” Joni Erickson Tada
Condoleezza Rice said, “The sooner you learn that life is not fair, the better off you’ll be, because you’ll spend less time railing against life’s unfairness and feeling aggrieved and entitled, and more time figuring out how to maximize your assets, and your talents and how to deal with things that you’re not very good at.”
Some believers are facing a new normal while others have been living it their entire lives…even here in America.
Our current situation begs the question, “Is our God big enough to make all things, including CoVid19, turn out for the good of those who love Him (Rom. 8:28)?”
He does not say that everything we face in life will be good. Sometimes, life on this planet is simply not fair!
What the Spirit is saying, however, is that we have a God who is outside time and space, and who can turn life’s unfairness – thrown at us by seen and unseen forces – into opportunities for faith steps that will change our lives today with eternal dividends.
The new normal, fair or not, will need a faith that is seen not simply stated.
In case you doubt, view a painting made by Joni Erickson Tada using only her teeth!

“Our wise Father in heaven knows when we’re going to need things. Don’t run out ahead of Him.” Corrie Ten Boom
Corrie tells the story about a time when she and her father were traveling by train. Seated next to him, she asked him what sex sin was. He said nothing.
As they prepared to exit, he asked Corrie to carry his suitcase. She tried as best she could, but it was far too heavy.
He told her that he would be a “pretty poor father to ask his little girl to carry such a load. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger, you can bear it. For now, you must trust me to carry it for you.”
Our Father is on the throne; and, we’re seated in Jesus’ lap at His right hand (Heb. 12:2; Eph. 2:6). We are there because we’re His children through faith in Jesus.
Our Father is completely able to handle the heavy knowledge that we can’t bear at the moment, like, when Covid19 restrictions will be lifted and life will return to “normal”.
Don’t focus on what you don’t know. It’s too heavy for you and will crush your peace of mind.
Instead, focus on what your Father is asking you to carry right now, and forget the rest. He knows tomorrow. You don’t. Let Him carry it.
Stay focus on and act upon the truths the Spirit gives you today from Jesus. And His peace will reign in your heart.

“Hope overcomes fear of the unknown!”
The Scriptures repeatedly tell us that we need to walk with other Jesus believers to deepen our love for Jesus.
The Spirit will use others, at times, to be Jesus’ hands, voice and sometimes His foot to draw us closer to Him.
Yet, we don’t want to walk across that foggy bridge to gather with others out of fear of the unknown. “What if…you fill in the blank.” This fear of the “what ifs” holds us back from growing our faith, a faith that sustains in foggy times.
We must learn from our brothers and sisters in persecuted countries. They know their need of the human factor to keep strong in foggy times at best and stormy times at worst.
A large percentage of Western Christians believe once a week meetings watching the back of other’s heads while listening to a talking head will be enough. They believe that live-streamed messages are good enough or watching “church” on TV will cut it.
They will not. When life takes away your spouse, who is there to hug you? When sickness keeps you down, who is there to bring food to your home? When you start to feel overwhelmed or weak in the knees, who is there to prop you up until you can walk on your own?
Hope is the light that will cut through that fog. Hope that God’s Word is true when it says walking with others will encourage, strengthen and sustain your faith in foggy times.
Who walks across that bridge to gather with you to encourage and strengthen your faith in Jesus? Now is the time, my friends, to find like-minded believers, those willing to walk by faith, not fear, to gather with you to keep you moving forward in your love for Jesus.