Growing in the Midst of Isolation

    Once upon a time, a friend once called me whilst working and told me she’s having a hard time believing if God is truly over the situation – the pandemic and if He’s sovereign above all of these.

    I had to put on hold what I was doing to attend to this person whose faith is hanging in the balance. I answered honestly and said that I find myself asking these questions, too and that my consolation is remembering how God has been faithful ever since the beginning. From when He created the world, and man’s betrayal to offering us salvation through His Son. We have to constantly fight against these emotions, and understand that all that is happening are all part of God’s unfolding plan and are ultimately to give Him glory. I was emotional until she told me it was a prank call.

    It has been a year and a half since the first lockdown, and months after I wouldn’t be able to count all the “lockdowns” we’ve had, in the category. Since then, we have been commanded to wear masks, sanitize, stay 1-2 meters apart – basically live in isolation, for health purposes, of course. Like the moment my friend called me, we had to put on hold the things we were doing and our plans.

    The pandemic has shown a facet of us that we have not been able to confront and understand the way we should. The means we have dealt with the situation have not always been encouraging and most times, they reveal how unstable we can get with our emotions and decisions. Being isolated, having little to nothing to do to change our circumstances, has uncovered how self-reliant we are or have been.

    Our isolation and waiting for our circumstances to change can cause us to be complacent in our growth and pursuit of Christ. I am not, in any way, brushing off the gravity of what the pandemic has caused and even taken away from us. As children of God, we long for growth in any situation we are in, especially the hardest ones. The question then is, “how”? How can we grow amidst isolation?

Here are 3 practical ways we can grow in our spiritual walk amidst isolation:

 Be fueled by God’s Word. 

    When many of Jesus’ disciples turned their backs and no longer followed Him, He asked the twelve if they wanted to go away like the rest, Simon Peter answered Him “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,” (John 6:66-68)

    There are so many uncertainties that cross our minds, and our situations are fast changing. One day the restrictions have loosened, and all seemed to go back to normal, then comes another variant in the country that’s statistically spreading faster. If the foundation of our faith and hope relies on these, we will be easily swayed away.

    We have to be rooted in what is certain and infinite, that is the word of God. “The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.“ (Isaiah 40:8)

    Intentionally set a time to read and meditate on God’s Word daily. Through His Word, we will come to understand much better and have a different view of the things around us. It is our defense against the overwhelming weight of concerns, our hope for the present and future, and our source of wisdom in understanding who God is.

    Jon Bloom once said, “So many of the things that cause us the most difficulty and heartache in life, the source of so much of our anxiety, fear, doubt and anger with others and with God, is the result of leaning on our understanding. 

Be Prayerful

    I read in an article on Desiring God, in which one person asked “Why are we so content to go prayerless? Or to ask it another way, what is it that motivates our prayer lives? What can sustain us here? What breathes urgency and jump-starts our intercession?”

    John Piper answered around the text, “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” (Ephesians 6:12–13)

    If we continue to read on the chapter, we are commanded to “pray at all times in the Spirit.”

    Many times the bible has taught us that our Christian walk is a battle; that daily we are at war against the darkness. They come in forms of unbelief, doubts, self-reliance, “lukewarmness”, and such. We are not promised a life free from “the valley of the shadow of death,” but are promised that He is with us even through. Therefore, we pray and when we do, we are putting our trust in God’s fidelity to His word.

    Martin Luther said, “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible to be alive without breathing.”

Be connected with the church. 

    One thing I’ve been longing for since the pandemic started are the heartfelt hugs and handshakes from the church, conversations that need not be 6-feet apart, and asking “what?” most of the time (cause I can’t hear them being that far and with masks), congregational singing and people shouting “amen” in agreement, and studying the bible over coffee.

    However, we can do some of these things through Zoom or any online platforms and we praise God for providing these but, they are just momentary alternatives.

    At some point in the pandemic, some of us have been content with isolation, and being physically detached can make us think we are alone. But the bible never said that our walk is to be dealt with alone. We must belong to a church and seek to grow with the church. We may have different paces, but we need to encourage and pray for each other; we are to bear one another’s burdens. We have to constantly reach out to others, join discipleship groups and bible studies. When we do these things, we display God’s love in the way we care for others.

    We do not know how long this pandemic will last, or what tomorrow may bring us. We have to trust that God is sovereign above all of these things, and it is the most comforting attribute of God when we go through different seasons in our lives. We can do all these things when we rely not on ourselves, who are prone to forget and are finite, but on the Holy Spirit who sustains us “both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13)

    A quote from J.I. Packer to remind us that God ordains these things for our faith in Him to be strengthened and work out our salvation: “If you ask, ‘Why is this happening?’ no light may come, but if you ask, ‘How am I to glorify God now?’ there will always be an answer.”

    Through these ways, we are reminded to look beyond this life and towards what is promised, our eternal home, to those who love God and persevere. Let us be instilled with the hope in Hebrews 13:14 “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.”

 

Author: Louzille Urbiztondo

Volunteer Staff at PAW University

Member of MCF-Cebu