Eyes on the Prize!

Easter blessings, everyone! Christ is risen; He is risen indeed! It's Easter Sunday today and I'm writing this blog on my iPad because my laptop, which "died" on Good Friday morning, hasn't resurrected yet. Bummer.
 
Life Under Lockdown
 
The message in most of the U.S. states, and indeed many countries around the world, is patently clear: In the light of the coronavirus pandemic, only businesses and organizations that provide "essential services" -- such as grocery stores, healthcare providers, law enforcement and first responders, and other indispensable services -- are allowed to continue operating. Everyone else is to expected to keep off the streets and adhere to stay-at-home orders.
 
For us in International Students, Inc. (ISI), both parts are equally true! On the one hand, like most others, we are confined to our homes, our usual student activities cancelled or indefinitely postponed, our regular routines severely disrupted. Living alone and bereft of our usual times of interaction at the university campus or at the local Starbucks, at the weekly ICF gathering or supper club, some of us feel alone, isolated, possibly even depressed.
 
For staff with families, our homes are suddenly cramped 24/7 with spouse, kids, pets, and (in quite a number of cases) students whom we're housing temporarily -- bless you for doing so -- because they have nowhere else to go. The disruptions, distractions, and dislocations are enough to drive us crazy, if we allow them to! We feel disoriented, perhaps we even despair, wondering where in all of this is God.
 
Here's the good news: On that first Good Friday over 2,000 years ago, the Son of God hung on the cross for your sins and mine. Abandoned and alone, Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46 NIV). Having entered willingly into the human condition, Jesus understands exactly how you and I feel! He empathizes with our weaknesses because He has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet He did not sin. We can therefore approach God with all confidence, knowing full well He will grant us mercy and grace in our time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16)!
 
Lockdown, Not Lockout!
 
At the same time, we're undeniably in the business of providing "essential services"! There's nothing more essential I can think of than sharing the love and truth of God with our students, helping precious souls know the risen Christ and walk in the salvation life He offers, plundering the dungeons of hell and populating the mansions of heaven (as Reinhard Bonnke used to say).  
 
Despite the difficult circumstances, you're finding resourceful ways to work around the challenges and constraints brought on by lockdowns! You've delivered care packages to students. Thanks to video conferencing tools (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, etc.), you're conducting ICF meetings and bible studies and meeting "face-to-face" with students online. And not forgetting "traditional" modes of communication like phone and email, through which you've continued to engage with your students.
 
The careers, health, and lives of so many may have been placed on the line at a time such as this, but the Lord is working online! Connections with students are being made online. Decisions for Christ are made online. Disciples for Christ are raised and nurtured, reproducers for Christ are equipped and empowered in the digital space. Notwithstanding safety and security risks surrounding the use of Zoom, social networking sites have become sanctified spaces for Kingdom work.
 
Like the 4 guys who dug a hole through the roof of a house in Capernaum to get a paraplegic to Jesus, because the front door was blocked (Mark 2:1-5), you're exercising "anointed innovation" and overcoming obstacles. Way to go, gang! We may be under lockdown, but thanks be to God, we are by no means locked out!
 
Look Straight Ahead
 
Though our lives have been turned upside down by the coronavirus, let's fix our eyes on the prize, let's resolutely focus on the task before us. As the writer of Proverbs has urged, “Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you” (Proverbs 4:25). And as Paul reminded Timothy, “But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:5). So don't lose your heads, people; keep 'em screwed on tight!
 
True, the incessant stream of bad and sad news threatens to disorient, distract, and disillusion. But let's draw strength from the Lord and regain a Christ-centered perspective on things. In the place of ashes, mourning, and despair, He bestows on us crowns of beauty, the oil of joy, and garments of praise (Isaiah 60:3)! Though the night of doom and gloom seems endless, the daylight of Christ is arcing its way over the horizon! It's Friday, but Sunday's comin'!
 
 

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