Now is the time. What are you going to do?
Now is the time. What are you going to do?
Guest Post by Ilse van den Berg
On 5 July 1942, a young teenager, along with her family and some close friends, entered an uncertain and understandably fearful period of “lockdown”.
Can you imagine staying in your home, not setting a foot out the door for seven days? How about 14 days? Could you see yourself house-bound for 30 days or even 60? I think we can agree that it’d be nearly impossible to imagine staying inside your home for 730 days. But Anne Frank and her family and loved ones did it because it was the time to do so, under the circumstances.
I’m by no means trying to draw a parallel between Nazi occupation, racism or injustice and the situation we find ourselves in with the COVID-19 crisis. The two scenarios can never be compared. I’m also not saying we will ever be in the same sort of isolation or “lockdown”. I am, however, trying to highlight human perseverance and courage—two things which I think will be imperative in the coming days, weeks, and even months.
Time to stay home.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how in the past, and still in this day and age, in many nations across the world, people are called to leave their families and loved ones and go to war. Perhaps it sounds dramatic, and bear with me if it does, but I also see the situation we as a global population is in right now with COVID-19, as a war. But instead of greeting loved ones, getting weapons and gear ready and making our way to the frontline, right now, we are called to stay home. To stay put. To give others a chance to survive and overcome this thing.
Now is not the time to give in to fear and panic. Instead, it is time to stay level-headed and strong. Now is the time to count our blessings. Now is the time to rediscover what family means. It is the time to play card games, board games, have family dinners, and to talk about what’s going on in each other’s lives.
Now is the time.
Now is the time to discover God, to talk with Him, to ask Him what His plan and purposes are in this time of chaos. Now is the time to spend time in the Word, to remind yourself of His promises. Now is also really the time to intercede for other people, for the nations.
Yes, now is also the time to relax, to destress, to watch movies, series, documentaries, and play video games. But more than that, now is the time to get creative, to be strategic.
The future depends on what we do today. It depends on what we do with what we have in our hands right now. You might not have work, finances, or a social life right now. But what you do have is TIME—the most precious and rare resource in life.
Now is a good time to think of ways we are going to build our societies up again after all this is over. Because this, too, shall pass. And when it does, there will be a considerable need for positivity, creativity, and community. Now is an opportunity to reevaluate and reinvent so that when the time comes, we can rebuild.
Let’s see how we can use this time for the good of humanity and to expand God’s Kingdom here on earth.
Ilse van den Berg is a South African freelance writer and editor with a passion for people and their stories.
She believes stories shape us and that they also have the power to change us. She loves travelling as it forces her out of her comfort zone to experience different cultures and meet diverse people. To get in touch with Ilse have a look at her website, WordUp Communication
Other Images courtesy of UnSplash
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