Quarantine III - Transformation

As the COVID-19 pandemic stretches on, and we continue wearing masks to shop, social distancing away from our friends and relatives and stay quarantined with our families, there can be less and less doubt that at the end of this - whenever that might be - we will not be simply returning to “normal.” As much as the weirdness of this all makes us think longingly about what was, we can not just go back to it. If we look hard at what was, we might just come to realize that the old way was broken. The pandemic did not break all our systems, but it did lay bare that brokenness. The times we are now going through are giving us a chance to rethink, reorganize, rebuild and create anew.

Is this not how God works? Right there in the beginning when we first “meet” God, he is speaking order into the primordial chaos, and creating. Genesis 1:2-3

The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.

With so much being so different, it is a good time to reevaluate how you are doing marriage. Take an online marriage class or workshop. Read a marriage book together as a way to begin conversations about your relationship. Is it honoring God? Are you serving one another in love. Do things like sex, date nights, casual walk and talks and other husband-wife times need to be scheduled so they fit with the changed and changing work / life conditions. Ask each other what you want your marriage to be, and then work towards that! As always, remain in the Word to be in tune with God’s plans for your lives, individually and together.

It’s not a very big leap to look around at what the current events - from the virus to the protests against police brutality - have done to the world and see chaos everywhere. What we do now, the decisions we make about how to live our lives will shape our future. That is always true of course, but right now the world is at a point where we have unique opportunities to drastically impact what the post-COVID world will look like, indeed what it will be. While we should all be asking big questions about what we want this world to be and how we can be doing work to usher in God’s kingdom, we should also take this time to take stock in our marriages. Work situations may have changed. Jobs may have been lost, or one or both spouses may be working remotely for the time being - or permanently. Kids are home, transitioning from remote learning to summer vacation, putting additional stress on home life as everyone tries to stay out of everyone else’s way.

The world is fraught with chaos right now. It is being God-like, as we are made in his image, to create harmony and beauty from the chaos. Everything we are going through now will be transformational; if we are introspective and intentional about it, it can change us, our marriages and our lives for the better.