2020 – what a year. Everyone is relieved that this tumultous year is coming to a close. In one way or another, all of us have lost something, adapted to new ways of living and being, and endured a difficult season. Instead of experiencing a great “2020 vision” and seeing our high hopes for this year realized, we saw with great clarity the brokenness, hurt, and pain in our world and in our own lives. I know friends who have experienced job loss and lost loved ones to the virus. Other losses are less tangible – cancelling a visit to see my parents for their sixtieth birthdays, missing the wedding of a special friend, and not being able to go and visit my aging grandmother.
And yet, we know that Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). Often when people use this verse, it is used in a way that feels like sticking our head in the sand, ignoring the bleakness of our reality and pretending that everything is OK. But what if there is something we can experience only in the trial, an experience that gives us a different perspective on our present circumstances?
God gives us great opportunity in the midst of our trials to experience the concrete realities of the Kingdom of God. Dallas Willard puts it like this:
…It is absolutely essential to our growth into the “mind” of Christ that we accept the “trials” of ordinary existence as the place where we are to experience and find the reign of God-with-us as actual reality. We are not to try to get in a position to avoid trials. And we are not to “catastrophize” and declare the “end of the world” when things happen. We are to see every event as an occasion in which the competence and faithfulness of God will be confirmed to us. Thus do we know the concrete reality of the kingdom of the heavens.
It is in the midst of the dark trials of life that we can experience the faithfulness of God in our lives, and the life of the Kingdom can become even more apparent to us. Jesus is King; He has overcome the world! We live in the Kingdom of God where His life triumphs over sin, death, and all its effects.
Where we experience fear and anxiety, we can trust that He is the Prince of Peace.
Where we have hoarded toilet paper and lived with a scarcity mindset, we can now give generously because the Kingdom of God has limitless resources.
When we are separated from our loved ones, we can experience the hope of the Holy Spirit.
When we experience interruptions to our work lives and to our kids’ schooling, we can experience a new way of loving and working together.
I am ready to go back to “normal”, but I think that I have experienced a “new normal” that shouldn’t really have been new. As followers of Jesus who live under the rule and reign of a loving God, our way of life in the Kingdom should continue. Kingdom living is more important now than ever. And sometimes, a crisis wakes us up to the opportunity and responsibility before us to demonstrate life in the kingdom to those who need it most. It is living right-side up in an upside-down world, as Dallas Willard says. I believe that God wants to pour out His Spirit afresh to His people across the globe, displaying His kingdom for all to see, and you and I can be a part of it. The question is, will we accept God’s invitation to surrender, trusting the mystery of His ways, and allow Him to do something new in our lives?
Insightful and encouraging. Change can certainly have advantages as well as disadvantages. But with God, we can trust that he will work through the situation to bring us instruction and benefit. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you, Mrs. Betty!