17 March 2020
For most of us, the COVID-19 crisis has significantly affected our day-to-day lives. The daily routine for both my family and me has changed significantly over the last six weeks. Obviously none of us want to get the virus, so we have adjusted to taking preventative measures to protect ourselves – wearing masks, frequently washing hands, and trying to eliminate close contact with others. But even more significant than the personal health precautions is the closure of the school system and the requirement of home school/online education for our children. Our apartment now serves as a classroom as well, and my family spends most of the day, every day, in the same location. Let’s just say we are spending a lot of time together (some days it seems like too much time!). The change to our lives has been significant, and I can find myself longing to go back to the way things were before the outbreak. I can find the inconveniences exhausting and catch myself being angered by the daily impact this crisis has on my family and our lifestyle. I want school to be back in session. I don’t want to have to put a mask on every time I step out the door. I don’t want to have to have someone take my temperature every time I go into a building. I just want things to go back to normal!
Yet as I’ve reflected on my feelings and frustrations, I’m increasingly realizing that God wants to sanctify me through these circumstances rather than simply remove the hard things from my life. If God wanted to, He could instantaneously end this virus crisis and bring a sense of normalcy back to Hong Kong and the world. He is God Almighty who is sovereign over all things, including disease. He is the Great Physician who can easily heal. But for His purposes, He wants to accomplish other things in the lives of His people. Trials often reveal our need for growth, and this trial has been no exception to me. It has allowed me to see my need for greater conformity to Christ’s character. It has allowed me to realize my need for greater endurance, patience, and joy. And even though I desperately want a change of circumstances to make my life less stressful, I’m realizing that there are some fairly obvious character issues that still need to be addressed. What I should want more than normalcy is to become more conformed to the image of Christ by exhibiting His love, His endurance, His patience, and His joy.
I realized my need for growth in these areas recently while I was reading through my daily Bible reading plan. In Colossians 1 I came to Paul’s prayer for the Colossians. In v11-12 Paul writes, “May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.” If you are anything like me, your prayers to the Lord may often default to daily personal needs: “Lord, please keep me healthy, provide for the needs of my family, etc.” Now certainly the Lord does want us to pray for these things – He told us to pray for our daily bread in the Lord’s Prayer. Yet often when we come to Paul’s prayers for the church, we find that his prayers are more directed towards character development and the inner transformation of our hearts. We feel as though our greatest needs concern the things we worry about throughout the day, when actually our greatest need is a deeper, more mature conformity to Christ’s image and character. Paul’s prayers frequently reflect that awareness of our need for our spiritual growth. During this COVID-19 virus trial, I’m becoming more aware of that need in myself and longing to be someone who possesses spiritual endurance, patience, and a joyful attitude that accurately reflects God’s care and control of my life. Praying as Paul did for myself and others keeps the emphasis on what God wants to form in me through the trials that He brings.
So during this trial, give time to self-examination. Set apart time to think about how this trial is revealing sinful attitudes or desires. Ask yourself questions such as, “What aspects of my character need to become more Christlike?” or “What has this trial revealed in my character so far that I may not have previously noticed?” And then pray. Pray that the Lord would help you see your need for growth, and pray that God would help you to see the love of Christ and His willingness to help you grow. Pray Paul’s prayers for increased spiritual understanding and inner transformation. As a church, let’s not miss out on how God wants to transform our hearts during this trial. Let’s not only pray that the virus outbreak would end soon, but let’s also pray that we would become more like Christ. We can either respond to this trial with anger and frustration, or we can respond with humility and a desire to grow. Lord-willing, this trial will pass eventually; how great it would be for all of us to look back and see how God helped us to make progress in our journey to becoming more like Jesus.
Adam McCulloch
