My friend and I were chatting on the 2nd week of Circuit Breaker (CB) in April. – he was sharing his true feelings in an animated way. He was lamenting that he can’t wait for 5th May to come quickly, because Home Base Learning (HBL) is ‘killing’ him. He wanted the teachers to take his 3 children back to school. He has gained more respect for all the teachers after Day 1 of HBL.
To some of us CB is a great chance to catch up with sleep and allow our bodies to recuperate. We have a lot of time at hand, we either get bored or we fill our day with meaningful activities.
But yet to some of us it is more stressful and depressive than before. There are so many areas that demand our attention. It is understatement to say that your job is demanding you to devote the same amount of time, in fact it is more than usual 8 hours. On the other hand, your children are demanding for your constant attention, whether it is for HBL or play time. The day gets harder if you have old folks staying with you. There are more demands now, even more than having a job in the office outside the home.
We have also heard bad news about the increase in home abuse cases, more than ever before. And many old folks are getting restless to be locked at home even with their children around.
And the cycle repeats again the next day, and continues on for the whole month. We tell ourselves– ‘I can do it, 2 more weeks to go’. But alas, Mr Lee announced the extension of the CB till June 1st. That is a piece of bad news, because we keep subjecting our physical and mental well-being to unceasing stress. There is no rest at all.
Where is God in all of this?
God understands and we are not the first to experience quarantine.
Looking in the Bible, Noah was quarantined in the Ark with his family members and animals for 6 months. No internet and social media to occupy them, except for the mixed smells of animals and faeces.. oooh..
Jonah was quarantined in the belly of the big fish for 3 days without light (he only had the fishy smell accompanying him). Nothing and nobody is with him!
We are able to see what God is doing for Noah and Jonah when we read their stories.
Noah – God wanted to cleanse the earth and kept him safe.
Jonah – He was confined to reflect and be cleansed on the inside so that he can fulfil God’s purpose to save the people of Nineveh.
What about us right now? Is God cleansing the earth to save us? Or He is cleansing the inside of us in order for His purpose to be fulfilled in 2020?
Noah and Jonah were stripped away from their daily life, in order that they can partner with God to achieve His greater purpose. God wants to do the same with us today, to fulfill the Great commission by making disciples.
We all know that even if we desire to disciple someone, that doesn’t mean others are ready or willing for us to be discipled. Similarly, we are probably not willing to be discipled because it is not our priority and we give excuses that no one is competent enough to give input to our life.
I believe God doesn’t need us to disciple thousands, nor hundreds but just a few like what His Son, Jesus did. Who are the few that we are able to pour out our lives to and spur them to pursue the Kingdom of God?
There are 2 groups of people in our lives that can be starting goal for our ‘few disciples’ – our family members and Discipleship Group members.
Our home is a good starting place for disciple-making, and we need to be intentional about it. Yes, we are overwhelmed with demands but let us ask God to give us wisdom to prioritise this, so that we won’t come out of this pandemic without changing.
Let’s partner with God to fulfill the Great Commission. Does God not care about us who need to attend to so many essential demands? This is our Lord Jesus’ answer to us,
Luke 10:41-42
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Yes, trusting God will empower us to handle our essential demands when we make Him and His will the priority. We must have a plan to insert discipleship into our BUSY lifestyle. May the Lord grant us His wisdom and His power through the Holy Spirit to fulfill the Great Commission.
Ps Rachel