"Pull Ourselves Together"

Don't panic.  We got this.  In fact, Christians were born for this.  At least, we were born again for this. When the world is turned upside down, Christians see Jesus standing upright.  We are the people who use times of fear to show courage. We use times of uncertainly to stand on solid ground. Today we will read a portion of an essay from 1948 to help with some needed perspective.  And then, at the end, I want to give you 6 basic, daily tips, to keep growing, even in this troubling time. 

- Why are people so scared of this pandemic

- Is this the first generation to have to deal with massive troubles

- How should Christians be found if disaster was to come to them

- Is this instruction from Jesus still valid: don't worry about tomorrow

- What are six things every child of God can do to make all the difference

Transcript

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Hello, welcome back for season two of the Excel Stillmore Podcast. I am your host, Chris Emerson, and I'm here to encourage you with tips and strategies to help you build stronger relationships, deepen your faith, and just get the most out of your life. Thank you for joining. Let's get started. Everyone's life has changed. You know what I'm talking about. I'll go ahead and be a bit more specific. I was thinking today, if someone listens to this episode a year from now or five years from now, they may wonder what in the world I'm talking about. So let me explain. This pandemic virus, COVID-19, originating in Asia, has covered the globe. And in an effort to negate its effects, to limit exposure, our entire country is effectively on lockdown. Most of us are confined to our homes for the most part. Certain states have asked the residents to shelter in place. We've had to alter everything about our lives. Even our worship services have had to be canceled to try to limit the accumulation of too many people in one place. Most of us have never seen anything like this, and there is still some measure of uncertainty in terms of how long will this last? What sacrifices will we have to make and can we recover? Now, I'm speaking to you today, and you are a Christian, and that means that you see all of this a little bit differently than people in the world. People in the world lament that there are no sporting events taking place, that their seniors are going to miss their graduation ceremonies, that there could be an economic fallout for decades to come. And while those things may be of some concern to you, instead you look at all of this as an opportunity. This maybe in your entire lifetime will be your best opportunity to show what true faith looks like. We talked about this in an episode two weeks ago. The episode was titled Prepared by God. We looked at the fact that God sometimes allows trials to occur in our lives to train us, to help us to mature and grow, or in some cases to show the world that we live for something more. We understand the fragility of this modern life. And so as it begins to crack, we don't fall apart. We rejoice in our relationship with God, we share the gospel with people, we huddle together with our loved ones, and we discuss our spiritual purpose. This is an incredible opportunity for Christians. Maybe it's the effect it has on your savings or your job. Maybe it's just being cooped up in the house with your family, or the fear that comes from uncertain times and an unpredictable future. I want to help you today. In order to do so, I not only commend you to the reading of scripture, and we will have references today, but also to an excerpt from a journalistic essay that I guarantee you are going to find great value in hearing. The great irony of this article is that it wasn't written in 2020. It was written all the way back in 1948. This short publication from over 70 years ago, when there was no such thing as COVID-19, the coronavirus, is the most useful piece of material outside of the canon of scripture that you will read on the topic of fear and courage. The man who wrote it may be known to you. His name is C.S. Lewis, a European author who wrote books like The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, Mere Christianity, and The Screwtape Letters. He wrote on the topic of how believers handle uncertainty and danger. He wasn't writing about a pandemic. He was actually writing about the atomic bomb. And in many ways the two equate. Back in nineteen forty eight, the atomic bomb had only been around for about three years. You may remember from history that the A bomb was only dropped on two occasions, both of which were by the Americans in nineteen forty five in Japan, killing at least one hundred and twenty thousand people and putting an end to the Japanese resistance. But by nineteen forty eight, the template for building these bombs had gotten out. The USSR that we now call Russia, they had those plans. They were building those bombs. So now, if you, for instance, lived in London in 1948, you understand that you are in range of a people who hate you, who could drop something on your city and kill almost everyone in it instantly. They had already experienced bombing throughout the war, they knew what that was like, but this was going to be something on a level unparalleled in their history. Does that sound familiar? We know about disease, we know about death, we know about viruses, but now we are experiencing something beyond what most of us have ever seen. And so there's this uncertainty, this fear that at any moment it could strike and alter our family forever. In that way we can properly compare COVID 19 with the atomic bomb, which they feared in that time, and I just want you to listen carefully to what CS Lewis wrote about that. He wrote the following In one way, we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. How are we to live in an atomic age? I am tempted to reply, why as you would have lived in the sixteenth century, when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age, when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night, or indeed as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents. In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented, and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors, anesthetics. But we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty. This is the first point to be made, and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts, not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies. A microbe can do that, but they need not dominate our minds. Let me just say I would love to use the rest of our time analyzing every line of that. I know, I know, the pints made you uncomfortable. Maybe we'll do an episode on drinking another time, but stay focused here. His point is you're spending too much time thinking about this. You are behaving as if a perfect, ever enduring life has just been ruined by the first introduction of the possibility of uncontrollable death. He said, Listen, in every generation and in every place death has been a reality. Uncertainty has been a reality. Sometimes it covered the globe, in fact, on many occasions, and the idea that our circumstance is so novel or unique that we should all fall apart and none should judge us is foolishness. The principles of Scripture to not worry about tomorrow that Jesus spoke in the Sermon on the Mount. It applied to a generation of Christians who knew not if they would live another day because of the persecution around them, and it continues to apply just as potently and necessarily today to you and me. I really like what he says at the end. Let's say it does happen. You have to leave somehow. It's an atomic bomb that lands on the city. Or in our case, it is disease that we fail to control. How do you want it to find you? Do you want it to find you huddled in the corner afraid? Do you want it to find you questioning God or shutting down your influence on others, putting your light under a basket? Or do you want it to find you living the Christian life, praying and working, teaching and reading, enjoying one another, spending time with your family, making the most of this opportunity, and yes, that's what we have, an opportunity to refocus in on the things that matter, with a lot of the frivolity of life cast out of the way. So let me just say an article like that takes a lot of my fear away. There is nothing unique about what we are facing. Jesus was right there comforting Christians through all generations, and he is there for me as well. But I'll tell you this, I do feel challenged. I feel challenged to use this opportunity. When the world is uncertain, they ought to find certainty in the voice of believers. When the world is questioning what matters, they ought to be able to look to Christians to find purpose. We need to be those people. I say again, you may never have an opportunity like this again in your life. So as C.S. Lewis said, so I say to you, if you need to hear it, we need to pull ourselves together. This is no time to fall apart. In fact, the opposite. This is the time to show the world that in Christ nothing can pull us apart. Please understand, God does not send bad things. All bad things are sourced from the devil. But God allows those things to differentiate children of God from children of the devil. How has that been going for you? Okay, so in these last several minutes that we have together, I want to give you a little checklist that you can follow each day, and I hope it's built in a way that you can remember it, so that you can self-analyze am I at peace like God wants me to be at peace? Am I learning things through this that genuinely make a difference? And when I first put this list together, there were four pieces that made up the word pure, P, U, R, and E. I put that out on social media a week ago, and someone said if you really want this to be effective, you need to add two L's to the end. Pure L. And per my personality, my immediate thought was challenge accepted. So yes, there will be six things for you to remember spelling out P-U-R-E L. Let's jump right in. Number one, pray. You ought to be praying. You need to be praying alone. You need to be praying with your family. When you find someone who is struggling, stop and pray with them. The Bible very clearly in Philippians 4 talks about the power of prayer to ease anxiety and to remind us of who we are and who we have with us. We talk about how we don't have time for things. Well, the schedule has cleared, hasn't it? At least in some ways. Be a prayerful person and maybe for the first time in your life, build a family culture of prayer. The second thing is utilize. Utilize the unique opportunities you now have that you did not have two months ago. I was going to use the word use here, but I like this better. To utilize means to make practical and effective use of. Time flies. And you look back over this period of time. How did you utilize it practically and effectively to grow in your faith, to strengthen your family, and to shine for Jesus? Make use of this. Number three, read. Read the word of God. Read on your own. Read with your family. If you see someone who is struggling, read the word with them. God's word is our lamp, it is our light, it directs our steps. It is the source of faith. Read the word. If you have the Excel Stillmore journal, you read at least a chapter a day. Maybe you've fallen behind on that. The excuses have all kind of like been canceled over the last two weeks. Become a Bible reader and make that the culture for your family going forward. We read the word. Number four, encourage. There are a lot of people hurting. You may have children who are scared. You may have a spouse who has anxiety. There may be brothers and sisters in Christ who live alone and don't know what's going to happen. When you see people or you hear about people who are hurting, be an encourager. We actually have an episode on that from last year, if you want a pep talk. Now you might say, How can I be an encourager? I can't go see them. We are socially distanced. But you already know the answer to that. Pick up the phone and make a phone call. You know, we used to call each other, hear one another's voice, and talk. Text someone, post encouraging, hopeful things on the internet, get off the conspiracy train. Help people unite with the power of Jesus. Encourage. So that was the original design. Pure, pray, utilize, read and encourage. But let me add two L's to the end. Laugh and love. It really struck me when C.S. Lewis said, if the atomic bomb hits your house, how do you want it to find you? Huddled in a corner, trembling in fear, or listening to music, or giving your kids a bath? Listen, don't forget to laugh. We have a lot to take joy in. Even now, yes, even now. So many wonderful relationships, encouraging interactions. Enjoy the time together. It's unique what we have right now. Laugh together. And for the sake of all humanity, don't take everything so seriously. Somebody uses a little levity, maybe posts something funny on social media, and in comes Debbie Downer. Look, we know it's tough. Laughter helps. And lastly, don't forget to love. Love your family. Love your brothers and sisters in Christ. We are all going through this together. Elderships and churches make really difficult decisions. Be someone who is supportive and patient and kind and loving. When we all get through this and we're looking back on it, let's look back at how much we loved each other and how that love is what kept us working together even when we were making very difficult decisions. So I'll finish with that. If you want to make the most of the time that you now have and the circumstance that you're in, if you want to see your attitude or the attitude of someone you love get better, remember these six things. Pray, utilize, read and encourage, laugh and love. These are the most important things we can do to pull ourselves together. Thank you so much for tuning in today. If you enjoyed the program, please remember to share with your family and your friends. Also, you can go to excelstillmore.life to sign up for emails, order the three month journals, or just catch up on old episodes. So until next time, let me leave you with this whatever you choose to do today in the name of the Lord Jesus, excel still more.