Day 1 of Social Distancing Encouragement

I’ve been thinking about this for the last 24 hours.  What can I do to encourage others while we are asked to practice “social distancing” for the next 15 days in an effort to slow the process, perhaps even stop the process of a virus that is slithering its way across our country.   People are walking around in a daze, there body language exuding anxiousness.  We have gone to buy groceries “just in case”, searched out diapers and formula for our daughter and listened endlessly to news reports. I have been choosing to turn off the news reports and turn on the worship videos available on Youtube.  Back to what I can do to encourage you.  I lay in bed last night thinking about it when an idea came to mind.  I will begin today to daily post a scripture and encouragement to you.  Maybe more of a reminder of God’s faithfulness and the truth of what His Word tells us.  So, I hope you will read, be encouraged and come back again.  The scriptures will be familiar.  But maybe they will come to you at the very moment you need them.

Day 1

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

As we walk through the next days, weeks or months, we will experience many challenging circumstances.  Children taken out of their normal schedules, not fully understanding what is going on around them, but they see the anxiousness of the adults.  Lost people fearing the unknown will act in ways that are unhealthy, unsafe and uncivilized.  Christians feeling cut off from each other by the ban on gathering together in large groups may be filled with underlying anxiousness.  But God is in control.  We have to remember that.  This verse is both empowering and encouraging….and yes, even comforting.  We do not have to allow fear to overcome us.  We have the power to face whatever happens with strength and self-control.  We have an opportunity to think way outside the box and discover ways to reach out to people, to minister to people and to teach our children and students about the faithfulness of God.  We can reach out to neighbors (from 6 feet away of course) to see if they need anything, or just to check up on them.  We can even offer to pray for them, six feet away of course!

If you are a believer and you believe God is faithful, chew on those words for a bit.  He gave us power, love and self-control in order to conquer fear.  Fear doesn’t own us!  We can walk through this unprecedented time with confidence in the one who we serve!  Now take a deep breath!  God’s got this.  Listen to His voice and not the world’s!