I woke up this morning thinking about this scripture. Grandma has been gone now for 3 months and she still has this ability to speak wisdom into my life. This week it seems as if our whole world has exploded into chaos. Going to the store is not suggested and you can't find anything you need anyway, people are working from home and all gatherings of ten or more have been cancelled across the country. There has been a lot on social media from news, to panic, memes, blatant meanness, and scripture...you name it someone has reacted in that way.
As the world is freaking out about toilet paper, and hunkering down, separating from everyone....It would be so incredibly easy to live in fear. This really reminds me of the days after 9/11 and the days after we went to war on terror. And other times in history where our need to control our world actually creates insane chaos.
I don't know if it is living and working at a Church Camp that has completely calmed spirit over the years, maturity, or my ever growing walk with Christ. But I have complete peace in all of this until I am completely alone. I am asthmatic, so there is a piece of me that is nervous in this virus pandemic. It could be really bad for me. Yesterday I enjoyed the quietness of camp as it was it empty and enjoyed the peaceful moments of motherhood. But once she was asleep and I was alone....I got nervous. I was riding my exercise bike and wheezing....and my brain immediately went to what if this is the virus. Not to the fact that it is spring and I have never been able to breath as things bloom. So this morning when I woke....a little clearer minded. I heard in my heart, "where two or more are gathered."
As a kid I always wondered what happens when you're alone....does God not join you when you are by yourself? How rude!!! When I am alone that is when I need the presence of God the most. Hey God, what is up with this verse in the Bible?! What about all of these people who are quarantined alone right now...you're just gonna leave them to their own devises?
Obviously when I am alone, my very powerful mind takes over! So in this internal conversation this morning, the response was again, "Where two or more are gathered!" And then it hit....I'm not alone when I ask the Spirit to be with me. I automatically then went to Grandma's and my favorite poem...the footprints poem. When there is only one set of footprints that is when God carries us. Oof....talk about conviction first thing in the morning!
I'm not alone when I ride my bike in the evening, I'm not alone when I can't go to the store, I'm not alone when the internet and the news run rampant. I'm not alone, unless I want to be. I can push the Spirit away. I can refuse to let the Spirit control my thoughts and desires. I can choose to be vulnerable, scared, and lonely. Or I can choose to let the Spirit in, and let God be in my thoughts, and my moments, and my days.
Toilet paper may be a scarce commodity right now, and your loved ones may be miles away. But God is only as far away as you want Him to be. If you are feeling isolated and abandoned, you're doing the pushing...not the other way around! Your mind is the most powerful tool you have, use it wisely.
"For where two or more are gathered, in My name, there I will be also!" - Jesus
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