Posted by This is the second post on how to survive these difficult times from a biblical perspective. Here are rules six through ten:
Teach your children. The Bible expects all parents to teach their children constantly about the things of God. In Deuteronomy 6 we read,
“4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
This time we spend with our children in enforced quarantine is precious. It’s a time to talk about the importance of God and the importance of science, the importance of love and how it is an antidote to fear, the importance of neighbors and the importance of the vulnerable.
Learn to fill your time valuably. Ephesians 5:16 says, “Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.” The time we spend in isolation can be a gift or a curse. How much of our time is spent on empty pursuits and how much on valuable ones? The way we use our time can build us up emotionally and spiritually or lead to stress and despair. A varied diet is probably healthier: connecting with family and friends, reading, playing games, watching some TV, doing some learning activities, doing crafts, working on puzzles, etc. We are all going to be in this isolation for a while, so it will help us to redeem the time.
However, it is equally important not to get anxious over whether we are productive with all the time given to us. Balance is what is called for here.
Love the stranger, the prisoner, the poor. I just saw the following post on my neighborhood web-site:
“Your help is desperately needed. The catastrophic numbers of people who have lost their jobs has created an overwhelming demand on the food banks. The demand far exceeds the supply, in fact, they are in danger of having to close their doors. This Sunday, my church is doing a — no contact, drive-by food drop off — between 8 am – 6 pm. Anything you can give … anything at all will help replenish the House of Mercy food bank. Please help to feed the poor.”
There is no doubt that God has a special place in his heart for the vulnerable. He says in Psalm 146:9, “The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow…” and, again in Deuteronomy 26:11-13, “When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.” But nowhere is the Christian’s duty to the vulnerable more clearly laid out than in Jesus’ words in the parable of the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew 25:24-40.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
Our duty in these perilous times is to do whatever we can to help those most in need. Here are just a few of the many organizations that are on the front lines in helping the “least of these.”
Pray. We often hear in a dire situation that there’s nothing to do but pray. How backward that is! As if prayer wasn’t the first, not the last resort. King Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of his temple, was an instance of forward-looking prayer. “37When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, 38 and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel—being aware of the afflictions of their own hearts, and spreading out their hands toward this temple— 39 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know every human heart), 40 so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors. (1 Kings 8)
And Jeremiah 29:7 says to the Jews who have been exiled in Babylon to pray for the nation, “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
Turn to God. In the end we must do all we can but realize that ultimately it is God who is in charge. Psalm 91:6 reads,
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 “Because he[b] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
May God protect you and those you hold dear in these difficult times.