Quarantine

Ok, how are you doing in this time?  A little stir crazy?  I love all the funny posts on social media about before and after quarantine. Or the joke where a man is given the choice, A he can spend the time with his wife and kids or B, and he immediately says B not knowing what it is.  A friend of mine told me he does not watch the news, because that will make you more paranoid, he just checks the news.  I like that better.  

Each morning I get up early and I will sit at the kitchen table and there is a bird feeder outside of the window.  The birds are not social distancing!  (joke) This bird feeder must be the place to be in the morning because the activity is nonstop.  The cool thing is most birds which are eating is cardinals.  They are a beautiful bird with the bright red being the male. I have always loved cardinals growing up near St Louis (another Joke). They are early morning eaters and when cardinals pair up together they are together for life and their life span is about three years.  We have a bird house that sits on the fence at the side of the yard.  Each night I see the cardinal sitting on the fence outside of the bird house to protect his/her family and eggs which they are sitting on. I will take my dogs out to go to the bathroom at 2 or 3 in the morning and I will shine the light and the cardinal is still sitting on the fence.

I cannot help but think that our Heavenly Father is guarding over and protecting us in the same way. What ever our circumstances are, do you feel blessed?  

It speaks many times in the Bible where there were always dark days before the light shines.  Starting at the beginning “God said let there be light” and there was. Plagues in the Bible, Noah and 40 days of rain and floods.  And most certainly Holy week.  Jesus suffered and it was dark and painful, but on the third day he rose again.  Our sins were forgiven, and our destiny was changed.

The other night the wind was blowing and lighting was flashing and it got kind of scary the dogs were huddled up right next to me, and then the rain came and it poured for a while, and then it was over.  When I got up the next morning and walked outside the air and the sky seemed cleansed.  The freshness was overwhelming. 

We have 1st responders, nurses, doctors, grocery store workers, restaurant workers and many more that put their health on the line each and everyday for the well being of others.  I have noticed where the attitude has changed.  I hear many more thank you’s for what they are doing.  People being kind to one another, checking on friends we have not checked on in a while. As Pastor Alan has challenged each one of us to stop and pray at 8 each night, pray for those who are suffering from Covid -19 and those families who have lost loved ones because of it. And pray for our circumstances. God is listening.

When this pandemic is over and we return to a new normal, it is my hope we will have a new since of gratitude and thankfulness.  We will have more appreciation walking down a grocery store with stocked shelves or sit down and a restaurant to have a meal, see an old friend and give them a hug, worship together.  Maybe this is a re-boot where we get our priorities in line with God.

In John Chapter 4:23 states, 

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

When we gather back together I hope and pray we will not forget or go back to the old ways of taking many things for granted and worship the father in spirit and in truth with a new hunger for the heart of God.

May God Bless you and protect you.

Mike