I've had time to think. Some snippets in between calls for my attention to "do this," or "get that," or cries of "can I have another snack!" Bedtime is a glorious thing! Time to bask in quietness until the pull of exhaustion overtakes my will to linger in aloneness.
Fellow travelers, friends of Jesus, followers of God, this is where my scattered thoughts have been landing these last few weeks of isolation:
I have been longing for "back to normal." You, too? I and my household had a bumpy start to adapting to the "stay at home" rule; it was, still is, a burden, an uncomfortable and unwelcome twist to our very happy and fairly uncomplicated lives. Maybe you, too?
The longing I have for our wonderful regular rhythm and routine to our days and our busyness is at times an ache, at times an anticipation. Life before quarantine was far from perfect, but we were able to move about with freedom. Able to interact and visit and work and talk and see and do things that we enjoyed. Things that we are now strongly advised against; even restricted from.
I wonder if this is the kind of longing I should have had all along for the things of God, of heaven.
My own regular, comfortable life. Is it all that I think it is? Is there more? Do I become so consumed with routines and schedules and to-do lists that I forget that there is more?
My thoughts on this are still scattered, and the parallels are not perfect. But this has been a challenge for me. The challenge to realize that these government imposed restrictions
for this short season are not unlike the ones I place upon myself when in daily regular life I choose to be short-sighted and selfish.
The challenge is this: that whenever back-to-normal resumes, I will remember the deep longings for more. And that I will seek to follow those longings by following more closely after God's kingdom which is all more I could ask for or imagine - even more.
