This post is part of the series His Encouragement
Other posts in this series:
Welcome! Welcome, dearest friends, to His Encouragement: Biblical Inspiration for Your Thursday. Every week, I join a few blogging friends to bring you a Bible passage and a little hope-filled discussion. We pray that these devotionals help you end your week strong in God’s love and purpose for you.
Today’s Scripture
I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
Psalm 34:4, KJV
It is mid-March and we are in the middle of a global pandemic. Many communities around the country – and the world – are encouraging “social distancing”. Many places of employment have closed, shifting those who are able into working remotely. Schools around the country have also closed, either temporarily or for the rest of the school year.
Many stores have bare shelves, forcing people to travel to multiple stores on the hunt for basic necessities. Some cities with larger outbreaks of COVID-19 are warning that shelter in place orders may be coming in the next few days. The number of confirmed cases will be increasing dramatically as a new wave of test kits are sent out.
This can be very overwhelming.
Seek the Lord
Our generation has not face a global heath crisis of this magnitude before. It is new to use and scary. With our modern world of 24/4 news coverage and the Internet at our fingertips, we are blessed with having access to information in real-time. We are also cursed with information-overload, exposure to hysteria, and the daunting task of having to vet our sources to weed out false information meant to spread panic and fear.
Having fear is a valid response to what we are facing, but we need to be careful that this fear does not prevent us from living. Psalm 34:4 encourages us to seek out the Lord when we are afraid. “I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.”
If you are struggling right now with worry, anxiety, or fear, take it to the Lord in prayer. Take all of your worries to Him (1 Peter 5:7) and He will give you a calming peace. (Philippians 4:6-7)
Things you can do
Also, find out what is triggering your anxiety and fears. Is it watching too much news coverage? Or scrolling through your preferred social media? Is it reading articles online? Try these things instead:
- Turn off the television.
- Give yourself a time-limit on browsing social media.
- Charge your phone or mobile device in a different room.
- Put your mobile device away or out-of-sight.
- If you are able to, go outside for fresh air and sunlight. If you cannot, open blinds to let sunlight in and open your windows for fresh air.
- Again if you can, take a walk.
- Put your favorite worship music or instrumental music on.
- Spend time with your family – but not talking about the pandemic. Watch a funny movie. Make dinner together. Play old-fashion board games. Do a family Bible study. ([truth]link is a great one online for teens and adults. My Place With Jesus is a great option for kids.)
- Do something to help you relax. Read your favorite book. Take a warm bath. Drink a cup of soothing tea. Write in your journal.
Prepare our hearts and minds
Most importantly, spend time with God in prayer and Bible study. God loves you more than you can possibly imagine. The apostle John gently reminds us: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear…” (1 John 4:18)
Because of His love of us, Jesus warned:
“See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
Matthew 24:4-8, ESV
As Christians, we have been waiting for a time such as this. It is because we love and trust Him – the Creator of the universe who knows every hair on our head (Matthew 10:30) and knows the beginning from the end (Isaiah 46:10) – that we can face what comes, and our fears, with confidence.
“He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. His heart is steady, he will not be afraid,” Psalm 112:7-8
May the peace of God comfort you and keep you during this challenging time.
What verse has touched your heart this week? Share in the comments below!
Be sure to also visit my fellow bloggers and read their encouragement for your Thursday as well:
- Trisha of Joy of Reading
- Nicole of The Christian Fiction Girl
- Jessica of A Baker’s Perspective
- Becca of The Becca Files
- Gina of Stories by Gina
- Rev. Rebecca Writes
- Andi of Radiant Light
- Leslie of Words of Hope
- Claudia of By Claudia Moser
- Keneesha of Women Loving God’s Way
Hi there, blogger. Would you like to join us in sharing encouragement from the Word of God every Thursday? Don’t be shy! Contact Trisha or Nicole today!
Featured photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
Continue reading this series:
Hope in crisis (His Encouragement)
Turn off my TV! I’ve had to do it. The hysteria is driving me crazy. Plus, they’re not giving very good info anyway.
I have to keep refocusing my sight on God. I have to trust in Him. God’s not surprised by any of this. Great post today!!!
Yeah. I can be a bit of a news-junkie myself. I am so grateful I started distancing myself from news about a year ago. Now I limit myself to checking the local news and reputable news sources like AP and Reuters once a day just to stay current on what is happening. Otherwise, I keep my focus on God, family, and my work. May the peace of God comfort us all!
This is such a helpful post today! Thankfully I haven’t been too crazy with the TV, but social media is a bit of a different story. Thankfully I’ve been more interested in my books lately than everything else but not socializing is starting to get to me.
I am fortunate that we live with my dad and our in-laws are close enough to visit still. We are not in “shelter in place” mode yet here, just “social distancing”. If/when our community reaches that point, my in laws will be staying with us. So we have a lot of activity going on in our house right now… and I’m still working, just remotely.
But I am sympathize with those who live alone or are already in full stay-at-home mode or even sheltering in place. It can be hard to go from normal activities to practically none at all! I’m contemplating doing a FB live or schedule a Zoom meeting for those in my circles who need some extra socialization.
We just did a zoom meeting with the youth group this week and it was awesome. I went out into the world today because I had to pick up my car at the mechanic and I stopped at walmart on my way home, but they’re pretty much at everything shut down at this point. After the new guidelines today my husband’s work was closed but thankfully he can still work from home. I’m someone who needs social interaction so I’m already feeling stir crazy