Wiregrass Church
For many of us, there's something we wish we'd been doing all along to prepare for what is happening now. Whatever lessons we’re learning, now is the time to start putting them into practice.
New Normal
If we’re wise, we’ll pause and ask the question, “What have I learned, what have we learned, and what do we want to carry forward?”
How can we be better for it?
How can we be better for it?
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Pain without gain is a shame.
If we don’t pay attention, we will not benefit from it. Our tendency will be to rush back to the old normal and miss the lessons learned in this new season or new normal.
“My own experience is something like this. I am progressing along the path of life in my ordinary contentedly fallen and godless condition,” – C.S. Lewis The Problem of Pain
“absorbed in a merry meeting with my friends for the morrow or a bit of work that tickles my vanity, when suddenly a stab of abdominal pain the threatens serious disease,” – C.S. Lewis The Problem of Pain
“or a headline in the newspapers that threatens us all with destruction, sends this whole pack of cards tumbling down.” – C.S. Lewis The Problem of Pain
“At first I am overwhelmed, and all my little happinesses look like broken toys.” – C.S. Lewis The Problem of Pain
“Then, slowly and reluctantly, bit by bit, I try to bring myself into the frame of mind that I should be in at all times.” – C.S. Lewis The Problem of Pain
“And perhaps, by God’s grace, I success, and for a day or two become a creature consciously dependent on God and drawing its strength from the right sources” – C.S. Lewis The Problem of Pain
“But the moment the threat is withdrawn…” – C.S. Lewis The Problem of Pain
What is wrong with us? Why do we have to be lead to the brink of disaster before we are willing to make the changes that we’ve known all along we need to make?
“But the moment the threat is withdrawn, my whole nature leaps back to the toys.” – C.S. Lewis The Problem of Pain
“God has had me for but forty-eight hours and then only by dint of taking everything else away from me.” – C.S. Lewis The Problem of Pain
“Let Him but sheathe that sword for a moment…” – C.S. Lewis The Problem of Pain
In order for us to gain through this pain, we have to be intentional. Otherwise, we will all drift back to the normal we used to have and never learn from it
“Let Him but sheathe that sword for a moment and I behave like a puppy when the hated bath is over.” – C.S. Lewis The Problem of Pain
“I shake myself as dry as I can and race off to reacquire my comfortable dirtiness, if not in the nearest manure heap, at least in the nearest flower bed.” – C.S. Lewis The Problem of Pain
It is human nature to return to bad habits once the pain associated with those bad habits is gone.
Aspiring to normal.
How can we be better for it?
Don’t let a bad thing go to waste.
What have I been doing that almost led to my undoing?
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What should I begin doing that I should have been doing all along?
It is not too soon to begin talking about this.
How can you be better for it financially?
What do you wish you’d been doing financially?
I want is better than I owe.
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A financial hole is due in part to a lack of self-control.
Proverbs 25:28 NIV
A lack of self-control in any area of life leads to a loss of control.
Decide NOW to start NOW.
How can you be better for it financially?
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Save more. / Spend less. / Get out/stay out of debt.
How can you be better for it relationally?
Quarantining has highlighted the good and not so good relationally.
COVID-19 may serve as a wake-up call for you relationally … if you wake up.
Own your slice of the conflict pie.
It was the catalyst that saved our marriage.
Rushing back to normal will only allow what’s bad to get worse.
It was the catalyst for repairing my relationship with my son.
It was the catalyst for repairing my relationship with my daughter.
How can you be better for it personally?
How is your worldview holding up?
How can you be better for it personally?
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Do you find yourself praying for the first time in a long time?
How can you be better for it personally?
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Did you discover your faith was more fragile than you imagined?
Regardless of which side of the faith aisle you’re on, if this current season has created tension on the inside, pay attention to that tension. It means you’re on the verge of learning something new or being reminded of something you’ve forgotten.
“There’s a little prosperity gospel in all of us.” – Kate Bowler
“Each of us, through the accidental narcissism of wanting to be happy, gets confused about what we ‘deserve.’” – Kate Bowler
“The world can’t help us know the difference between who is righteous and who is just plain lucky.” – Kate Bowler
We are going to get through this. Things are going to become more normal. But let’s make sure we’re better for it.
How can we be better for it financially?
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How can we be better for it relationally?
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How can we be better for it personally?
Decide to be better for it.
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Let’s not “behave like a puppy when the hated bath is over.”
Create a reminder.
We have far more IN common with people than not.
How will I be better for it?
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What will help me remember?
Let’s not miss this unprecedented opportunity to learn everything we can and to gain the perspective that will serve us well in the future. Let’s not merely settle for getting through this. Let’s decide to be better fo it.
