“Lockdown Lament” by Dalton Key. “Alone and then, lonely – two different words, So alike and yet standing apart; One speaks of location, of not “being there,” The other, of bruising the heart. We may be at distance while we are confined, Unable to share the same space; Though love remains still and our hearts remain joined, How we ache for that sweet face to face.”
The other day I thought about my work-life during this “limited shelter in place” situation. If only I could come up with some sort of strategy for dealing with all of this craziness: finding ways to create normalcy. There have been times when I found myself stressed without really knowing why and looking at the calendar or my phone display just to figure out what day it was. That made me realize how disorienting the loss of routine is. So I’m trying to maintain a normal routine. I get up early and do my usual morning humdrum. I take my supplements and meds, feed the dog, get myself something to eat, brush my teeth and hair, and dress as if I were going to my office. Be it later than usual, I do go to the office and try to keep normal office hours, but there just isn’t a whole lot of activity going on. So, between the office and home I do my best to find something to do all day. But what if one can’t? I can work from home if need be, but not everyone can. I still say you need “work hours,” where you are doing something productive. It may be cleaning and organizing your home. It may be working on that home improvement project you’ve been putting off. Or maybe your “work” could involve education; Learn something. There are free online courses. There are apps available to help you learn the rudiments of a foreign language. There are online videos to teach you how to play an instrument, how to bake a cake, how to build a birdhouse… so many different things. Or maybe you want to educate yourself more on world politics, global economics, or things of the sort. Now’s a good time. This is a great time for writing letters. Making phone calls to encourage people. Spending more time in prayer. To each his own - just don’t get lazy.
[Deuteronomy 2:7] “For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows you're going through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.” The number “forty” is quit prevalent in God’s Word: It rained forty day and nights (Genesis 7); The Israelites ate “manna from heaven” forty years (Exodus 16:35); Moses spent forty days and nights with God receiving the covenant commandments, not once but twice (Exodus 24:15-18 & 34:27-28); Those sent to spy out the land of Canaan spent forty days doing so (Numbers 13:25); God’s judgment on unbelieving Israel resulted in them spending forty years in the wilderness (Numbers 14:33-34); Jesus fasted and was tempted in the wilderness forty days (Matthew 4:2, Mark 1:13, Luke 4:2). I’m not going to get into an argument about when all this COVID -19 shut-down started but it could just possibly be a “forty” issued by God upon one nation at a time throughout the whole world. I’m not waving a magic wand of profound knowledge here, but it might be something worth thinking about during this time of “rest”. I personally look at this time in the wilderness as a time of serious prayer and thanksgiving. Are the intellects of the world going to continue leaning on their own knowledge to “make it a more sustainable place to live” or give it back to God and live as He would have us to live? Folks, I believe it’s judgment time. I believe God is watching and waiting to see if He is still involved in the affairs of man or not (Genesis 6:5-7). What will God’s evaluation reveal? It all belongs to God; it’s up to Him.
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