Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic

This blog is long overdue, but this week the Lord reminded me of the pandemic and it got me thinking and reflecting on what I personally learned during that crazy time:

1. Life (and the world) can change in an instant.
I remember it like it was yesterday. One week we were going about our regular business with the news reports of a virus off in the distance somewhere. And then seemingly in an instant, everything shut down and our lives changes completely. It stuck me how easily the status quo can change, how fragile this world is, and how we are not in control like we think we are.

2. People's hearts were exposed.
You only needed to look on social media, or walk into a store, or visit a hospital to see that people were not handling it well. Fear was rampant. Self-righteousness abounded. People virtue-signaling and bullying others for not wearing masks or getting the vaccine, or vice versa. In crisis, you show your true colors. What's in your heart comes out. Jesus said it as much: "A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad... For whatever is in your heart determines what [comes out]." (Matt 12:33-34; italics added). The Bible teaches us to pray for God to reveal to us what's deep in our heart. Well, here it was -- God took the opportunity during the pandemic to show us what truly lies within so we can repent and surrender that to Him.

3. We need to honor each other despite disagreement.
Romans 12:10 says, "Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other." I did a timely sermon series on honor during the pandemic. Basically, honor doesn't mean agreement, but rather treating people with the love of Christ and seeing them as valuable (as He does). It personally taught me to move past disagreements with my friends, politicians, etc. (which our society fails miserably at), and see people as created and loved by God therefore I owe them that same love. In our church during the pandemic, there was plenty of differing opinions and some hard feelings. But praise God, He helped us move past that and learn to honor each other. He protected our unity and made Great Lakes Church stronger. Same principle applies for those outside the Church. We must show them that same honor because Christ honored us despite our sin.

4. You can't fully trust the media, government, or medical world; but you can't totally discount them either.
Many take it to extremes. Some fully trust everything our institutions feed us, and conversely some don’t believe anything they say. I'm personally on neither one of those sides. I take in what's being said with a (hopefully) healthy degree of skepticism. We need that in today's age. The CDC got a lot of things wrong during the pandemic. Doctors often get things wrong. The government is not the final arbiter of truth. Plus, I suspect there are some greedy, political motives behind things that are said and done, too. But at the same time, we need to listen because sometimes they have info that we need to hear. Lord, give us wisdom!

5. Pushback is sometimes necessary.
God wants us to submit to our governing authorities (Romans 13), but submission doesn't always mean obedience. As the pandemic went on, government control got stronger. And it came to a breaking point for me when the State of Minnesota was opening things back up, they allowed strip clubs and bars to open but churches to remain closed. That led many, like the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, the Catholic Church, River Valley Church, and many others to push back and call for the governor to align himself with the U.S. Constitution which allows us freedom of religion and to assemble. That pushback was necessary, and thankfully Governor Walz relented. Regardless of what the governor or our constitution says, we have a God-given command to assemble (Heb 10:25), and we best do that in person, even though we thought it necessary to meet virtually for a few weeks. Ultimately, we must obey God rather than men.

6. Trust God to bring you through.
This one wasn't so much an issue for me probably because I'm younger and healthy and my job wasn't in jeopardy, but for many people trusting God was REALLY hard during the pandemic. No matter the scare, God was leading His Church to scriptures like Psalm 46 and 91, which have been a great comfort for us to trust in His protection. Even though the things of the world are out of our control in many ways, they are not out of His control. No needle or virus can match His power. His sovereign hand was and is over our lives, protecting and providing for those who follow Jesus.

One more thing: trusting God doesn't mean you can't take safety precautions. Some of you wore a mask, got the vaccine, and were overall more cautious than normal during the thick of things. Those aren't necessarily bad (read my blog from early 2022 for more of my thoughts on the vaccines), but my three thoughts on this point are 1) We must remember God is our refuge and strength, 2) any decision made out of fear is sin, and 3) we need the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

7. The importance of being still.
One of the blessings in disguise was, since our calendars were empty for about 3 months, that we had plenty of time to pause, be still (Ps 46:10), listen, and reset with the Lord. Sometimes busyness is our enemy. Bill Johnson calls it "artificial significance." Meaning, our significance is never measured by how busy we are, but by the quality of our relationship with God. The Lord used the pandemic to invite us back into the secret place and be with Him. May we live everyday like we've learned that lesson.

8. We need community. 
THANK GOD FOR ZOOM. Amen?! I don't believe community is best done through Zoom, and I especially don't believe watching a church service on Facebook Live or YouTube counts as community, but for those 3 months Zoom was a God-send. God said in the garden that "it's not good for man to be alone," and many of you fought hard to stay connected to the church family when times got rough in 2020. The Lord made you stronger for it.

9. Our light must shine brightly in great darkness.
Something to keep in mind for the next pandemic or national crisis... instead of just trying to survive, ask yourself: how can I capitalize on this opportunity for the Kingdom? In other words, how can I share the hope of Jesus with people? How can I bless my neighbors who are struggling? Where is the immediate need in my area or in the Church and how can I help? God wants us to be proactive not reactive. It's a mindset that will get us outside of ourselves and looking onto the mission field. God will move powerfully because of it.

10. God's redemption and grace is there for us.
Maybe you're reading this and you didn’t handle COVID well. You know you made decisions out of fear during COVID. You recognize your attitude wasn’t good. You said some things you regret or got burned by other people. Whatever it is, Jesus is our redeemer in all things and wants to heal those wounds, forgive our sin, and set our feet on the right path. He is FAITHFUL to us, and can turn anything around for our good. Cry out to Him today and put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Hallelujah.