In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, you are probably feeling a lot of emptiness: streets, classrooms, offices, stadiums, supermarket shelves, and even churches are empty. As your emptiness is revealed, make God your refuge and fill up with Christ. Surrender your worries and fears and be filled with real peace.
Gregg Matte
Day 1
Scriptures: Psalms 46:1-3, Psalms 46:10-11
When Stillness Reveals Emptiness
Difficult times and seasons put things in perspective and open your eyes to see what is essential and what is not. When things get out of our “control,” we somehow discover that they were not under our control after all. Once everything that can be shaken in our lives is shaken, we wake up to realize that what seemed to be a nightmare is actually the reality we now find ourselves in.
During this troubling pandemic, we are surrounded by empty streets, empty airplanes, empty supermarket shelves, empty restaurants, schools, and universities––even Times Square is deserted! The stock market plummeted, the price of oil went down (below zero!), and people are losing their jobs just as fast as the numbers of people infected are announced.
As the many activities and distractions that fill up our lives and make us feel full vanish into thin air, we are suddenly obliged to face the emptiness within our lives. We realize that we do not know how to be still. We have learned to keep ourselves busy so as not to feel nor address the underlying pain, traumas, and unresolved issues that we so earnestly try to cover up. We have lived in so much excess that we do not know how to live with little, or with just enough––some people need 50 rolls of toilet paper to feel secure!
These strange days of social distancing are forcing us to be still and reveal a profound emptiness that can only be filled with Christ. Please do not waste this opportunity! Take advantage of this time and use it to grow. Be still and recognize your emptiness. Examine yourself. Allow this emptiness to show you what is being shaken. Learn to distinguish the difference between those things in your life that can be shaken and those that will never be shaken. There is a greater fullness to be experienced in the midst of emptiness. We can only be filled up once we recognize our emptiness. Trust in the fullness of Christ as your emptiness is revealed.
Pray
Lord, I feel empty and afraid. Please, fill me up! I surrender my life and circumstances under Your control. While everything around me is being shaken, I choose not to fear! I will be still in Your presence and recognize that You are God. You are my very present help amid trouble!
Day 2
Scriptures: Psalms 42:1-11, Philippians 4:4, Philippians 4:6-7
Control Must Become Surrender
As we listen to the news and hear what is happening around us, a deep sense of fear and worry is triggered. These feelings scare us because we seemed to have everything under control, and suddenly our whole world is shaking and falling apart.
To make matters worse, we must stay home, isolated. We long for connection, worship, and prayer with our brothers and sisters in Christ, but we cannot go to church. Even if going to church is not part of your life, when a crisis such as the one we are facing with the coronavirus pandemic arises, we may somehow feel the need to run to church. Isolation manifests the emptiness that comes from the lack of meaningful connection with God’s family.
Something similar happened to the author of Psalm 42. The Bible tells us that one of the sons of Korah, thousands of years ago, felt like most of us do today. He expressed his feelings through a beautiful song: “Yearning for God in the Midst of Distress.” I do not want to spoil it for you, so I will just say that he was depressed because he could not join the multitude he used to go with to the house of God. His soul is disquieted, and he asks himself, “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?” (Psalm 42:5, ESV).
Can you relate to him? Are you asking yourself these same questions these days? Why do I feel like this? Why do I feel so down, so afraid? What is behind your fear and worry? We are desperate because those things we cannot control are revealing precisely that we are not in control, we never were. Control must become surrender.
The psalmist acknowledges his feelings; he does not repress them. He courageously addresses them and decides to put his hope in God. He surrenders it all to God. He does not allow his circumstances to steal his peace and joy.
Pray
Lord, today, I feel cast down, and this sensation is stealing my joy. I surrender my life and circumstances under Your control. I have decided to put my hope in You and to rejoice in You always. Fill me up with Your loving presence
Day 3
Scriptures: Psalms 16:1-2, Psalms 16:8-9, Psalms 37:25, Matthew 6:25-34
Worry Must Become Trust
How many things have you surrendered during this crisis? Many students could not have their prom. Athletes who have been practicing and training for years missed their championships; some even missed the Olympic games! Others lost their paid holidays or have been working hard to finally get that promotion or a new job. Plans, hopes, and dreams are gone. Disappointment is surely paying them a visit.
For those who have lost their jobs, worry might be knocking at their door. How am I going to pay the bills? What do I do now? How do I find a new job in the middle of a pandemic? It is normal to worry. The Bible does not condemn worry, fear, disappointment, or any other feeling, but it does tell us what to do.
Once worry knocks at our door, we must do something with it; we are not supposed to dwell on it. Instead, worry must become trust. I am not saying that this process is easy and simple. I am not trying to minimize or undermine how difficult it is for us to move from worry to trust, but is there any other healthy choice?
If you are a child of God and you recognize God as your Heavenly Father, Jesus encourages you not to be anxious about your life—what you will eat, your body, or even what you put on. God is in control! God is God! He takes care of the birds. He takes care of the lilies of the field. Are we not more valuable to Him than a bird or a flower? That is Jesus’s argument: I take care of birds and flowers; I will surely take care of you. You are more valuable to me than them. I gave my life for you; why would you not trust me?
Worry is just a waste of time; it does not solve the problem but makes it bigger than it is, and opens the door to fear and anxiety. Seek God, ask your Father to provide for you. Take this opportunity and grow from it. Learn to trust in Him.
Pray
Heavenly Father, today I choose to put my trust in You. I surrender my disappointments and my worries to You. Please, provide for every need. Take care of us as You take care of the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
Day 4
Scriptures: Matthew 14:22-33, Psalms 16:11, Psalms 46:1-3
Fear Must Become Faith
It is possible that in the midst of these uncertain times, you have not been able to stop worrying, and all your thoughts have led to fear. Your imagination is out of control; you do not seem to find peace, and all you do is panic over everything.
You might be feeling like the apostle Peter before and after walking on water. Your life is out of control because the wind is blowing against your boat. The wind is like an invisible enemy (the coronavirus), and it can be found all around you. You cannot see it, but you can tell it is affecting the environment and the way you perceive things.
Your boat is being tossed around by the waves of economic crisis and health threats. Jesus comes walking on water next to you. What do you do? Do you stay on the boat and allow the wind to toss you around, or do you look at Jesus straight in the eyes and walk towards Him? Will your fear become faith?
Peter got out of the boat and walked on water until his eyes moved from Jesus to the wind. What are you focusing on? Jesus or the coronavirus and its effects? Are you sinking in doubt? Remember that Jesus is right next to you. Focus on Him. Know that even if you sink, as soon as you call on His name, He will reach out and take hold of you.
How reassuring it is to know that Jesus has everything under control. Such knowledge allows you to relax, and worship. That is exactly what the disciples did after Jesus and Peter got in the boat. Worship is the only thing that has nothing to do with us. It takes the focus off us, and our problems, and directs all the due attention to the only One who has complete dominion over all the forces of nature.
So, from now on, every time you see an empty school, an empty bank account, or an empty church…
Pray
“I am full in Christ. Jesus is right here next to me; I choose to focus on Him. I know that He has everything under control so I surrender my worries and fears into His hands. Today, I choose to worship Him, and trust that no matter what may come my way, He will be right beside me.”