Next week, when things get back to normal…

That was my thought, while John is working from home. I’m not sure exactly what caught my attention, but it was not the norm for my quiet, retirement days. Maybe it was the time he turned on the television during the middle of the day. What is that noise? There’s no tv time mid-day!! What’s he doing? Next week…

But next week won’t return to a normal that we have known. Throughout our lives, we have milestones and events that forever alter life as we know it. Mostly good, like weddings or new babies or grand babies. Sometimes bad, such as a job loss, death or pandemic. 

Pandemic. 

Who woulda thunk it? A pandemic has changed our normal. 

Things are forever changed by Covid-19. There is no turning back to what was. 

Ezekiel 12 has a poignant verse for the Jewish exiles. Ezekiel was dramatizing what was to come – that the Judean King would be taken into exile also, and the Jewish people would be in exile much longer than they anticipated.

Ezekiel 12:6 Cover your face so you cannot see the land you are leaving.^⁠1 

Cover your face. Don’t look back at what was. Change is inevitable, and it’s happening right now. But if you’re like me, you’d rather revision to and reshaping of your life to come in increments, not all at once. At least then we’d have a fighting chance of getting used to our new normal, right? 

Like the Jewish people, it appears we will be in exile (self-quarantine, isolation, staying at home) longer than we had hoped or imagined. It will be a while before the storm passes and we can assess what our new normal will be. In the meantime, we can enjoy the “now” normal – the slower pace, being at our homes, virtually touching base with those we love and care about. We can be right here, right now.

And when the skies clear and the sun shines brightly again, are we going to look back and long for what was? Or are we going to look ahead with anticipation of what can be? 

Are we going to weep moving forward or leap ahead with joy?

Lord God, in the midst of this storm, I pray we will be still and calm, enjoying the presence of those we love, and sensing Your presence as never before. I pray we will look forward to the future You have for us, one that is changed, but good, because it comes from You. Father, I pray it is a future with medicines and a cure for this viral pandemic, and miracle from You like we’ve never seen before! In the mighty healing name of Jesus and for Your glory, Amen.

Grace be with you,

 

 

 

¹ Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Eze 12:6). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.