COVID-19: When the World Stopped
I tend to be a planner. Are you? I always feel better when I have my lists made and my plans in place. I even pack days before I have to travel, just so I don’t forget anything. One time I travelled to visit a friend and once there realized I had forgotten my underwear. All I had were the ones on my body. After jokes and laughs, my first stop was a trip to the store for undergarments.
Life is so unpredictable. I had plans over the next month, as I’m sure you did too, but now, things have changed.
I would have never thought my life would be centered around finding toilet paper and trying not to touch my face. (Which I just can’t seem to do! Can You?)
Each day brings a new story.
Where do we turn when life seems exceptionally scary and excessively unpredictable?
My thoughts go to the Serenity Prayer…
Definition of serenity: the state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled.
GOD, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen.
-Reinhold Neibuhr (1892-1971)
What I can’t control…
I can look for toilet paper, but I may not be able to get some. I can search for my favorite foods, but they just might not be available. I can wash my hands and not touch my face, but I still might get the coronavirus. I have no control over that. And I may need to suck it up and go without coffee for a time, Oh Lord, please don’t ask that of me.
What I can control…
What I do have complete control over is my attitude. It’s okay to feel scared. It’s okay to feel uncertainty. It’s okay to express my feelings. And I can choose to offer each fearful and anxiety filled emotion to the Father. And I can ask Him for whatever I want knowing He hears me. I can choose to enjoy more time with my family. I can choose to enjoy staying in more. I can choose to enjoy having time for more reading. I have an over surplus of tea and I can enjoy some teatime.
How about you?
Do you have fears and anxieties related to the challenges we are all facing with the concerns about the coronavirus? Start with the Serenity prayer, hand it to God and take control of what you can, ask God for wisdom for decisions, and accept what you have no control over and trust God with each day.
We can fall into stumbles when we tighten our grasp on things we have no control over. The disillusion that we have power over what we do not will cause heartache and sorrow. Offering our fears, uncertainty, and anxiety to God, and surrendering our will to His, gives us peace and security.
Dear Lord, we hand You the uncertainty of each new day. Guide us in Your path and give us what’s needed for each moment. Surround us with Your love and care, and give us peace as we face each new challenge. We may not know what lies ahead for us tomorrow but we know WHO holds tomorrow in HIS hands. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Be well, my friend!
Enjoy some reading and work on your marriage. Lucille Williams is the author of “From Me to We” and “The Intimacy You Crave: Straight Talk about Sex and Pancakes” order a copy today. Subscribe to LuSays for weekly encouragement.
