At the end of the day today, April 9th, Jean and I will have completed our 14 day mandatory quarantine (see previous blog post for details). This has meant that we were not permitted to leave our property, or to have any visitors, for the last two weeks. We are most thankful that we have remained healthy during this time and completely free from the Corona virus, and all other sicknesses for that matter. Needless to say we are looking forward to Good Friday being our first day of freedom from this order.
In the mountains where we live the only place anyone is allowed to go is to the small local convenience stores nearby. Fortunately tomorrow we too will be able to do so. We’ve heard that most of those are very low on supplies as delivery trucks have not been allowed entry by community leaders for the last two weeks or so. Gracias, a city of approximately 30,000 with gas stations, banks, grocery stores, etc, has maintained very strong controls about access to their city. This week everything in Gracias is closed. The national curfew was extended to April 19th with days of the week that people are allowed to go to the stores, banks, etc. based on ID numbers. Going to Gracias next Wednesday will allow us to do a few things we need to do. And by getting out for a little while some sense of normalcy will return at least for a little while.
In other cities people have been able to go out to get things they need on specified days of the week more so than in our area depending on the last digit of their identification. In these same cities home deliveries of groceries, medicine and/or food from restaurants has been permitted. However, in the rural mountains of Honduras none of these have been available options. Being completely isolated from our friends and neighbors and not having permission to leave our property has brought about a much greater appreciation for the freedom of movement and ability to get the things that are wanted or needed.
Rather than focusing on what we don’t have we have focused more on counting our blessings, and they are many. But even though we have many blessings to count there have been moments when it has not been easy for us. We miss seeing our friends and families. There is a sense of helplessness as we have been unable to do much for families that are in need. However, even while obeying completely our quarantine orders, God showed us a creative way that we could bless some families in our area and it was very satisfying to be able to do so from our home without having any personal contact.
The fact that we were allowed to return to our home two weeks ago even though the local governments had the right to deny us that is one huge blessing. We have friends who are stuck in other parts of Honduras, away from their homes and families, who have been denied this right for three weeks and counting. People in the rural mountains all across Honduras are struggling much more than usual because of this crisis. People either don’t have any cash or they don’t have access to the banks to get cash so they can’t buy what they need. We’ve heard that the government is distributing food but hunger is becoming a problem for more and more families in the rural areas especially.
So wherever you are, if you are in your home, if you have the option to go out, if you have the ability to visit with people (while following whatever social distancing rules are in place) or if you can purchase or receive deliveries of food and supplies (which implies that you have the means to make these purchases), please take a moment to give God thanks if you haven’t done so already. These are huge blessings and this crisis has brought this into much sharper focus for us.
We spent the first day of our quarantine processing and decompressing from the events of the previous few days as they had been mentally and emotionally draining. Then we of course thought about home projects, you know, the ones that you say you’ll do if you ever get the time to do them. Yes, we have those projects too. Well, all of a sudden we had the time. So, we did go about getting some of those done. There remain several projects not done because we weren’t prepared beforehand and now we can’t get the supplies that we need. So, with nowhere to go, and not as many projects to keep us busy we slowed down a bit like so many of you have done.
God has a habit of working through the decisions made by men and governments to accomplish His purposes. It was the order given by Caesar for a census to be taken that God used to send Joseph and his very pregnant wife Mary to Bethlehem. God used this circumstance to fulfill the prophecy that had been written hundreds of years earlier regarding the birth place of Jesus. In God’s sovereignty nothing takes Him by surprise, and likewise nothing goes unused by Him to accomplish His purposes.
The world has not been as troubled as it is now for quite some time; this led me to a familiar verse, Psalm 46:10, in the NASB it reads as follows:
“Cease striving, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
The same verse in the NIV translates “cease striving” as “be still”. Even though the NASB is my personal favorite occasionally I find other translations to be insightful and this is one of those times. Both phrases, cease striving and be still, have very similar meanings but “be still” resonates more with me these days.
Be still. And know that I am God. What does this mean?
The call to stillness is not a call to laziness.
Nowhere in the Scriptures is laziness celebrated. Paul wrote that if a man is unwilling to work then he should not expect to eat (see Galatians chapter 3). King Solomon had plenty to say about lazy people throughout the book of Proverbs and none of it was favorable. Stillness with a purpose is not laziness.
The call to stillness is a call to peacefulness.
When we read Psalm 46 in its entirety we see that the Psalm was written as an assurance to God’s people. We need God’s assurances now. God is reminding us that He is our refuge and our strength. By using the imagery of raging seas and shaking and crumbling mountains, we are assured that in the midst of these things we have a hiding place in God. Regardless of what governments do God is still in control. He is still on His throne. He is still with us. He is our stronghold. In this we can be still and have peace.
The call to stillness is the antidote to busyness.
Far too often our value, worth, importance, significance, and I would even say our very identities, are determined by how busy we are. We admire and elevate busy people in our culture. The busier someone is the more important and successful they must be. We are all familiar with beginning a sentence with “I know you are really busy but…” I’ve only had a boss or two during my years in corporate America who would not let me address them that way because they did not want being busy to be a hindrance to our relationship. I’ve had other bosses and coworkers who proudly wore their busyness as a badge for all to see and admire. Unfortunately I have been this kind of boss and coworker before.
Sadly we see this in ministry too sometimes. With the best of intentions, if we’re not careful, we’ll fall into the same trap of busyness in our ministries. I wish this wasn’t true but it is sometimes. So even while serving God in ministry we need to be reminded that our busyness can distract us from what is truly important and that stillness is the antidote to busyness.
And Know That I Am God
This is what it is all about. To know God we have to take time to be still. God does not force us to know Him. The Bible says that He speaks to us in a still, small voice. Remember when Elijah was hiding out in a cave on Mount Horeb (see 1 Kings 19)? God told Elijah to stand before Him. There was a great wind, strong enough to break rocks. The wind was followed by an earthquake. The wind and earthquake were followed by a fire. And after the fire the Word says there was the sound of a gentle blowing. And it was in the sound of the gentle blowing that Elijah heard God speak.
If we want to know God we have to get someplace quiet and be still. Most of us don’t like being still, especially you extroverted types. You need to be around people with lots of activity. You know it is hard to hear and know God with constant activity all around but that is how you are wired. While I would not consider myself to be an introvert I tend to lean a little more that way. While I enjoy being around others I also have a strong need for quiet time. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the more introverted among us do any better at stillness.
In the quiet times it takes much effort, for me at least, to discipline my mind and focus on God to the level required of being still and knowing that He is God. Even if I am not physically on the run the distractions within are often enough to ruin the stillness of my external environment when there are few activities and nobody around.
In this current crisis God has intervened in a noticeable way, through the decisions of governments, to remove many of the external distractions that enable us to continue in our “busyness”. But the question now is this; are we taking advantage of this unprecedented time in our lives to deal with all of our distractions and busyness, to actually be still enough to know that He is God?
God has a purpose for this season that we are in right now. God is trying to get our attention. I think God is trying to prepare His people for things that are going to come. We need to seek Him, let Him be our assurance, refuge, and strength and then walk moment by moment in His peace. We need to use this season wisely to get prepared for what lies ahead. We need to be still and know that He is God.