Where is Jesus in Covid-19?

Within just a few short weeks, the spread of Covid-19 has claimed over two hundred thousand lives worldwide with thousands of confirmed cases reported daily (WHO).  Social distancing and shelter in place are terms we have quickly become familiar in our response to Public Health and National Government strategies to flatten the curve.

The daily reports are heart wrenching – you’ve seen and heard them, perhaps you’ve experienced it firsthand. Know that I’m praying for you. I’m praying for our front-line workers, our essential workers, our children, our elderly – our world.

My first response

But in full transparency, my first response was not prayer. I watched and listened holding my breath – unable to exhale. Sifting through the barrage of doomsday pundits, last days evangelists, and conspiracy theorists. Waiting for an answer. Waiting to understand ‘why’.

Why is this happening?

Why Lord why?

And then, during my quiet time, a fresh breath of clarity emerged –

Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be.

John 12:26a NIV

Perhaps this doesn’t sound like much of an answer, but hear me out.

God is sovereign, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent – foundational tenets of all we know as believers to be true.

And like me, prior to this pandemic, you felt the stir of the Holy Spirit in your heart to pursue the plans and purposes revealed to you. You stepped out in faith, made some big decisions to follow Him but never in a million years could you have anticipated or foreseen the upside down global reality of which we all find ourselves.

What now Lord?

Dear friend, the truth is, none of this has taken Jesus by surprise. In fact, what may appear and feel to be a gross setback of your plans, may in fact be a divine set up.

Obstacle or Opportunity?

Rather than an obstacle to your calling, it is an opportunity to enter into the places to which you are being called.

I’ve shared parts of my journey with you – leaving my corporate job several years ago, stepping out in faith to launch a non medical home care agency then pressing pause on my business to pursue my RN degree.

Then Covid-19.

Another twist in my story.

But this verse gives me a renewed perspective.

Jesus says – “… where I am, my servant will be.”

Where are you Jesus?

So instead of asking why, I am asking where are you Jesus?

And it turns out, He is… everywhere.

Once we shift our perspective from our own situation, we can see Him at work all around us. We have a gift within us that is imperishable. We are His bearers of grace. While the multitudes are fearful, anxious, desperate, hurting, and in search of answers. We have the opportunity to be where Jesus is. To be His hands, His feet, His mind, and His heart to a world that needs Him more than ever.

For me, I found Him amidst the elderly at great risk within our nursing homes. Outbreaks of Covid-19 have resulted in unprecedented deaths of seniors within long term care homes and lack of front-line personal support workers has resulted in a critical national health emergency.

This is where I will serve Jesus. Where He is, I will be.

It looks different from where I expected to be. But I am trusting God to order my steps. To protect me and my family as I pick up my cross to follow Him.

But that is my story. Our Divine setups may look different.

Where will you find Jesus?

You have been prepared with a unique mix of spiritual gifts and talents that the Lord has designed for you to use for such a time as this.

If you have been holding your breath, unsettled by what this new reality means for you, your family, your future, our world, I encourage you to see through the eyes of Jesus and follow Him. You can make a difference in the lives of others. He has been crafting your story for quite some time.

So friend, as we navigate the next several weeks or months of this Covid-19 pandemic, let’s choose to believe God more than our doubts and fears. Let’s trust that He will protect us, provide for us and multiply our humble offerings to accomplish His perfect plans in and through us as we go where He is.