April 27, 2020
During our Question/Answer time following the morning service yesterday (you can find the service and the Q/A here), the first question was a great one, and I was only able to give a partial answer off the cuff - but several more answers have come to mind in the past day and a half. The question was this: “What are some ways to stay positive and not descend into the spiral of negativity which is so easy to get trapped in during this time?” The question recognizes how difficult the past two months have been - many feel trapped, stuck at home, stuck with their families, unable to go where they are used to going and do what they are used to doing. It is easy to get discouraged, to lose heart, to grow weary - even to grow discontent, bitter at God, covetous of the way we were able to live before this pandemic. To be sure, these are days of sorrow and loss, so if we are grieved and saddened and mourning, such emotion is to be expected and affirmed. Too often we try to do every thing we can not to be sad. Yet sadness, in a fallen world, is an appropriate response. But like the apostles, God calls us to be “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (II Corinthians 6:10) - to grieve as those with a great hope (I Thessalonians 4:13). How do we do that?
I answered this question by reminding us how important it is to begin and spend and end our days in the word of God and in prayer. Meditating on God’s promises, God’s character, and God’s grace to us in Jesus Christ throughout the day will enable us not to lose heart as we struggle through a pandemic quarantine (see II Corinthians 4:16-18). But there are other good and helpful answers to this question. Here are a few (starting the list with the number 2 so that we don’t forget #1 above):
2. Spend time with other people. Now maybe you think, “This is exactly what I’m not able to do!!” or “It’s the people around me that are causing me to be so negative!!” It may be true that you aren’t able to be with people as easily as you once were. But I encourage you to be creative in how you spend time with others. Perhaps it something as simple as an old fashioned phone call, or as high tech as a Zoom or Facetime video chat. Perhaps you sit in someone’s driveway and talk to them or eat lunch together from a distance. Perhaps you participate in the new social distanced practice of drive-by home parades, and talk from your cars. If you’re able to combine #1 and #2, all the better - how we need to be encouraging one another with the word of God, strengthening one another in the Lord (I Samuel 23:16; I Thessalonians 5:11). Make sure to spend time with people who are going to comfort and sympathize with you, but who will also challenge and rebuke your discontentment, and exhort you to put your trust in the Lord with them.
3. Get outside. This may seem like an “unspiritual” answer - but when you recall that God has made us body and soul, and that God has made all things to display His glory, then Christians must never forget that one of the best ways not to lose heart is to spend time in nature, in God’s creation. Not only will you get needed vitamins (and recognizing that our souls are affected by our bodies, how important it is during these times to recognize the connection between physical health and spiritual health), but you will get needed perspective. God is sustaining all creation, and He will sustain you all your life. See the majesty and goodness of God in plants, animals, bodies of waters, the blowing wind, the brilliant sun. Read Psalm 8, Psalm 19, Romans 1:18ff., Acts 14:17 - then go out and see the power and kindness of God.
4. Serve someone. One of the best ways to fight negativity and discouragement and a downcast spirit, is to focus on someone other than yourself. Often our negativity is sinful: it’s selfish, self-centered, envious, jealous, bitter, prideful, discontented, covetous. Fight off these bad fruits by seeking to do good to someone around you. Love your neighbor, whether through writing them a letter, making or baking them something, buying something for them, doing something unexpected for them, etc. Joy comes from making someone else happy. Be a blessing to someone else in need - and you won’t only see that your needs are not perhaps as large as you’ve made them out to be, but you will also gain the blessing promised in Jesus’ word: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).
Undoubtedly there are more ways not to lose heart as we suffer through this season of affliction - so please leave your answers in the comment section below!