Something I quite love about the Bible is how the Endings brings us back to the Beginning. What do I mean by that? I love how so often as we move forward in the Scriptures, we see references to the verses that come before it. History is reflected. The New Testament references the Old Testament. When we get through Revelation and see how it all ends, we are brought back to wanting to understand more about the The Beginning and how we got to this place. I love that every time we think someone’s story is over, it’s just beginning. Even in death, we know that more is to come… as mortal life ends… eternity begins.
Our day to day human lives are a mixture of endings and beginnings. We move from one milestone to another, adolescence to young adult, adult to elderly. We may see an ending of our health and beginning of our illness, or the ending of a relationship (personal/business) and the beginning of independence. What 2020 taught us all, so far, is that endings and beginnings are also unpredictable. We expect birth and death, growth, experience, etc. We are sometimes caught off guard by being laid off, fired, sick, etc. But, 2020 shows us this all on a massive scale.
We have watched businesses (small and large) shut their doors. How we would navigate school and work would change in an instant, we were faced with decisions we could have never anticipated, and much of that brought us at odds against one another as we all scramble to do what is “right”. For some, they didn’t experience just the random unexpected illness or death of a loved one. When Covid19 hit their family, it spread, infecting multiple family members… some families having to plan more than one funeral.
In the midst of Covi19 we faced different trials as a world, as a country, a community, a family, and as an individual. Trying to make sense of all the data… flawed, inaccurate, incomplete, changing daily. Learning to make headway in the “new norm”. All within an election year, in a time that our attention has been pointed toward social injustice, child / sex trafficking, and other issues plastering our FB news feeds. Not just one family member out of work, but potentially both. Insecurity and anxiety.
Due to Covid19 we have seen supply shortages for goods, new safety demands established for services, and mandates that we never could have imagined happening.
Beginnings and Endings.
Who would have thought that during a time that so many where facing economic uncertainty we would find home buying on the rise? That so many purchases would be made during the quarantine that the supplies for putting in a fence or a pool would be backlogged? A furniture shortage would push purchases out for several months. That finding toilet paper would be problematic. I’ve lived in Florida my entire life, been through over 40 hurricane seasons… I’ve never seen toilet paper sold out for months on end.
Who would have thought that churches would be forced to go to online only formats, and that this temporary ending of live services would result in so many beginning their life in Christ? Who knew that our lack of access to a building would create a safe place online for so many with questions to begin asking, begin seeking, and begin a new life?
Beginnings and Endings.
These are different times, unprecedented times. Also they are anointed and appointed times. They may have caught us off guard, we didn’t expect it… but the Lord did. In His providence he made a way for many of us to grow through these seasons. Making tough and overdue choices, setting out on new adventures, pulling back together of the family as we quarantined together.
This season ended so many things for me, but it also began some amazing new opportunities. Lord, that I may learn from this today for what tomorrow holds.
Gena McCown 