Charisa Stories

Tag: pandemic

  • The Reset Button We Need For 2022

    The Reset Button We Need For 2022

    I think we are just beginning to recognize and unpack the damage caused by the pandemic lock downs. The separation of friends and families from normal interaction has left it’s toll on the culture. I would argue the effect has been even more profound on the church. If you are/were a faithful church participant you had likely bought into the truth that we need one another on this journey. Many of us have sacrificed that gift of one another to this insidious virus. I have seen responses and behaviors from churchgoers that surprised even me and I wrote a book called When Bad Christians Happen to Good People! I think the isolation may have exposed some baggage that had been buried under busyness and routine. More on that in next week’s musing.

    I am suggesting that we need to admit this separation has had a negative effect on most of us. It feels like patience is in record short supply and it is not a supply chain issue. The actions and words of others seem to agitate us more easily. The ability to discuss difficult topics with civility has become almost impossible. I don’t think those trends were a result of the pandemic but I do think its emotional and spiritual effect exacerbated it.

    So what do we do? Today I wanted to propose a reset button we can push to help reconfigure our hearts.

    Years ago an office supply company promoted a big red button that proclaimed “That Was Easy” every time you pushed it. Certainly nothing about today’s spiritual climate is easy but I am proposing a button we can mentally push when the feelings of anger, frustration, judgment, and even hatred bubble up. Push this button in your mind and hear these words.

    “We All Need Grace“

    Paul threw down a pretty straight forward statement to the Ephesian church.

    Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
    (Ephesians 4:32, NLT)

    When my impulse is to judge someone I need to push the grace button and remember God pursued me with the gift of undeserved grace. In this rush to judgment social media culture it is so disgustingly easy to go to condemnation first. Remember when the woman caught in very obvious sin was brought before Jesus by a hyped up group of self-righteous judges. When He reminded the mob of their own heart condition they went quietly away.

    “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”

    “No, Lord,” she said.

    And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

    Jesus knew her heart had changed. She didn’t need a lecture, spiritual discipline, or penance. She needed forgiveness, release from judgment, and hope. Jesus is our example. He pushed the grace button when the mob wanted condemnation.

    In 2022 I want to reset my heart from the damage done by isolation and cultural negativity. I need to push the grace button.

    If I can’t forgive then I have forgotten how much I have been forgiven. I need to push the grace button.

    When I look with disdain at another person I have forgotten how God sees them. That person is a soul that Jesus loves. I need to push the grace button.

    When I don’t accept another brother or sister I have forgotten that I was unacceptable to a Holy God and that it is only because of Jesus that I am acceptable to Him. I need to push the grace button.

    When I assume to know the motives of those who oppose me I have forgotten that only God can see the true hearts of others. I need to push the grace button.

    When I can’t serve without expectation of personal return I have forgotten that my service should come from gratitude for the amazing grace of Jesus. I need to push the grace button.

    Pastor Tullian Tchividjian wrote this about our “aversion” to the radical concept of grace.

    “We love the “if/then” proposition: “If” you do this, “then” I will do that. We love “what-goes-around-comes-around” conditionality. It makes us feel safe. It’s easy to comprehend. It makes perfect sense to our grace-shy hearts. It’s makes life formulaic. It breeds a sense of manageability. And best of all, it keeps us in control. We get to keep our ledgers and scorecards.

    The logic of grace, on the other hand, is incomprehensible to our law-locked hearts. Grace is thickly counter-intuitive. It feels risky and unfair. It wrestles control out of our hands. It is wild and unsettling. It turns everything that makes sense to us upside-down and inside-out. Law says, “Good people get good stuff; bad people get bad stuff.” Grace says, “The bad get the best; the worst inherit the wealth; the slave becomes a son.” This offends our deepest sense of justice and rightness. We are, by nature, allergic to grace.”

    We need to push the grace button and believe this wonderful truth written in Hebrews for another uncertain year ahead.

    So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. (Hebrews 4:16, NLT)

  • Thawing Out Some Lessons From Historic Cold

    Thawing Out Some Lessons From Historic Cold

    Today the temps soared over 70 degrees in Texas. That was an eighty degree swing in just a couple of days. The snow is just a memory but the effects of a record-breaking cold will linger for days and weeks. Joni and I were fortunate to not lose power for more than a few minutes at a time. We dodged the broken pipe issue that continues to plague so many fellow Texans. We had clean and drinkable water throughout the storm.

    Many of our friends and neighbors were not so fortunate. Thousands lost power for days as household temps dropped to dangerous lows. Pipes froze and left them without hot or cold water. Stores were unable to restock essential items and shoppers found aisles of empty shelves and coolers.

    As I prayed for those affected I reflected on the hard lessons learned through the pandemic and this polar blast. For me the main lesson I have learned is realizing what I truly need. People across Texas went from worrying about what luxury item they wanted to buy next to struggling to secure the very basics of life. This week showed rich and poor alike what you really need.

    Shelter and heat. Food. Water.

    The pandemic has also taught us a hard lesson. We may think that what we have lost with Covid is the ability to do things and that is true. But the biggest need we discovered in forced isolation is our need for community. We need one another.

    I am hardly prophetic but I did consider this very issue in my book Waking Up Slowly.

    One of the obstacles to trusting God in our daily walk is how much we routinely take for granted. Dictionary.com definition of taking something for granted is convicting. Anytime we “use, accept, or treat in a careless or indifferent manner” something of value in our lives we are guilty. I don’t think that is intentional for most of us. But it will take intentional thought to notice those overlooked little blessings. The second definition of taking for granted is to accept without question or objection; assume. I assume that those things will always be there.

    I do that almost every day. I assume by my actions that those things will always be there. Take a moment to thank God for things we rarely think about. Things like clean water and abundant and safe food supplies. When was the last time you thought about that? How about hot water when you shower?

    Today I will remind myself of this simple truth. The things you take for granted someone else is praying for. What is your list of small and overlooked daily mercies? Thank God for the ordinary and write down your many taken for granted blessings. I think you will be amazed at how much you (and I) take for granted every single day.

    Waking Up Slowly – Dave Burchett

    I also am trying to rewire my speech to remove the word need from the things I simply want. I don’t need most of the things I say I need to be happy. Coffee might be the one exception. The reality is I merely want those things. My true needs are very simple.

    Shelter. Food and water. Enough income to support those basics. Community. Family. Friends. Those are the things I really NEED.

    There is one more need that becomes more apparent through pandemic, polar vortexes, and societal upheaval.

    I need hope.

    These events are NOT a surprise to God. This pandemic did not find God scrambling to catch up. Sickness, natural disasters, and pandemics are a product of a fallen world that will someday be redeemed. Jesus made it very clear that following Him is not a get out of grief card. “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33, NLT) Yes there will be troubles. Yes there will be heartaches, sickness, and even death. But He has overcome the world. What does that mean?

    It means even in my deepest fear and darkest hour I can know that I am loved, adopted, redeemed and that I have the hope of an eternity with God. I have hope to sustain me. I am not anxious to leave this world but I am also not afraid. I believe I have an eternal inheritance given as a free gift of grace awaiting me.

    The next time life events are causing your heart to be downcast remember the words of Paul to the church at Corinth. He had endured his share of suffering but he knew it would be okay.

    For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. (2 Corinthians 4:17-18, NLT)

    Today I choose to focus my gaze on the source of hope and light.

    Jesus.

    Keep your eyes on Jesus and the words of a classic old church hymn will begin to ring true in your heart.

    Turn you eyes upon Jesus
    Look full in His wonderful face.
    And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
    In the light of His glory and grace.

    As I finished a difficult week on top of a difficult year I realize the glory and grace of Jesus is what I need more than anything to make it through.

  • 21 Connect: Day 7 – This Crisis Can Teach us the Wisdom of Sabbath

    21 Connect: Day 7 – This Crisis Can Teach us the Wisdom of Sabbath

    On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.

    Genesis 2:2-3, NLT

    God did not need to rest. He was modeling for His creation that we need to slow down and relax. Think of that. The God of Creation can kick back and enjoy what has been accomplished. Our Creator is telling us that we are creatures and not machines. What is wrong with us that we cannot take moments to enjoy and appreciate both our gifts of grace and the work of our hands?

    God understood that the body, mind, and spirit need rest and refueling time. Our culture has lost that instinct and ability to give ourselves permission to rest. Now a worldwide pandemic has forced many of us to slow down. For some it has been a maddening and boring time. For others it has been a revelation of how our busy lives have caused us to forget the simple and sacred moments of daily living.

    Jesus demonstrated that the command for Sabbath observance was not about following a hyperlegalistic rule. It was about taking the time to get over ourselves and see what God is doing. Remember this encounter with the Sabbath police?

    One Sabbath, Jesus was strolling with his disciples
    through a field of ripe grain. Hungry, the disciples were
    pulling off the heads of grain and munching on them.
    Some Pharisees reported them to Jesus: “Your disciples
    are breaking the Sabbath rules!”
    Jesus said, “Really? Didn’t you ever read what David
    and his companions did when they were hungry, how
    they entered the sanctuary and ate fresh bread off the
    altar, bread that no one but priests were allowed to
    eat? And didn’t you ever read in God’s Law that priests
    carrying out their Temple duties break Sabbath rules
    all the time and it’s not held against them?
    “There is far more at stake here than religion. If
    you had any idea what this Scripture meant‘
    I prefer a flexible heart to an inflexible ritual’— you wouldn’t be nitpicking like this. The Son of Man is no lackey to
    the Sabbath; he’s in charge.”
    Matthew 1 2 : 1 – 8 , The Message


    While I am reasonably sure that Jesus did not say “lackey” to the Pharisees, it sure is fun to think about. But the point is that the heart of Sabbath is not rule keeping. It is resting in the One who is our Sabbath. I can acknowledge that God has this under control and He can get by just fine without my assistance for a few hours. Writer Wendell Berry captured the spirit of letting go of my need to control every moment:


    “Sabbath observance invites us to stop. It invites us to rest.
    It asks us to notice that while we rest the world continues
    without our help. It invites us to find delight in the world’s
    beauty and abundance.”


    The world gets along just fine without my help. That is disappointing and liberating at the same time. Noted author Dallas Willard, who possessed a far bigger brain than I have, says this about the fourth commandment:

    “The command is ‘Do no work.’ Just make space. Attend to
    what is around you. Learn that you don’t have to do to be.
    Accept the grace of doing nothing. Stay with it until you stop
    jerking and squirming.”

    Accept the grace of doing nothing. I love that thought. I failed to recognize how innocuous and mundane little activities add up, draining my life battery.

    Sabbath truly is vital to our very well-being. It can be an oasis in the desert of busy living. God does not ordinarily clamor for my attention. He waits quietly for me to show up, be still, and spend time with Him. I don’t do that often enough.

    This time of rest might have been forced upon us but we would do well to learn the lessons of reflection, time, and worship. Things will return to busy soon. Let’s not forget the sacred value of Sabbath.

  • Concerned? Of course. Afraid? No.

    Concerned? Of course. Afraid? No.

    Watching the news about the potential impact of the Covid-19 virus is depressing and frightening. It is so easy to react with fear about the future. But I can’t get around a constant message from our Lord.

    Do not be afraid.

    Over 80 times you find the phrase “do not be afraid” in the Bible. Perhaps the most relevant example is when Jesus was preparing His followers for His departure. His words are a comforting balm for us today.

    Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 12:27)

    I am concerned about how this pandemic is affecting the world, our country and those I hold dear. But I am not afraid. Honest followers of Jesus know that suffering, hardship, and trials are a part of a fallen world and the refining process of His redeeming grace. Peter was addressing the attacks from the enemy but these words fit perfectly today.

    In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. I Peter 5:10, NLT

    Indeed.

    One of my Dad’s favorite songs comes to mind. “I Know Who Holds Tomorrow” was written in 1950 by a traveling preacher named Ara Stanphill. He wrote the song during a time of agony and extraordinary doubt in his life. Stanphill’s wife battled addiction and left him for other men. You could imagine the gossip that followed him in that era. In the depths of his sadness he began to hum a tune and the next thing he knew he was singing a song. He sang about not knowing what was in the future but knowing that God was with him every step of the way. He rushed to his piano when he arrived at his office and jotted down the words.  I remember hearing Faron Young sing these lyrics on a scratchy vinyl record with my Dad.

    I don’t worry o’er the future,
    For I know what Jesus said.
    And today I’ll walk beside Him,
    For He knows what is ahead.

    Many things about tomorrow
    I don’t seem to understand
    But I know who holds tomorrow
    And I know who holds my hand.

    I believe those words. I don’t know what is going to happen. I am concerned but not afraid. I am also a little peeved that I am more than old enough to be a part of the the high risk group. How did that happen? I will be smart about my health and the health of others. I will follow the directives of medical and political leaders. I will trust in the efforts of caring health professionals to get us through this. But I will put my hope in Jesus. Paul put it well in his letter to the Romans.

    And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39, NLT)

    My friend John Frost texted these words to me this week. “Fear is the virus. Faith is the vaccine.” He was not diminishing the risk or the need to be concerned. He was simply acknowledging what every Christian needs to affirm in this season. We do not need to be afraid. I know who holds tomorrow and I know who holds my hand.