What use to be simple, just isn’t any more.
The things we did that were part of our routine or that we didn’t have to think much about can no longer happen.
There’s more to consider now.
The religious people were pretty use to things being a certain way before Jesus showed up on the scene too.
Jesus messed with their status quo. He turned over tables. Challenged the wealthy. Healed on the Sabbath. Hung out with law breakers. Spoke of a new Kingdom. Made outrageous claims.
This season has also messed with our status quo. We have to think and act differently.
We cannot hope for simple again. It doesn’t exist. We must walk in a changed landscape.
Are you going to keep longing for simple? Honestly, sometimes I do. I want to be able to just go to the grocery and not have to think about my well-being. I want to just go to church and pleasantly shake hands and greet others before sitting down.
And yet there is something about this season and its demand for different that stirs us up a bit. We see community and caring with a new lens.
We recognize our need for one another has shifted.
If we cling to simple we miss seeing our neighbors. Maybe the truth is we missed seeing our neighbors before but now they are right in front of us in a new way.
Have you allowed yourself to be needed or allowed others to meet your needs differently in this season? I had never had someone else shop for toilet paper for me until now! I had also never participated in a celebration parade. (And cried at the joy it brought!)
How might the way Jesus challenged the status quo and the stirring up of our comforts and norms be related?
Perspective. New Vision. Proximity. Change. Church.
The reality that life will not return to “normal” creates some edginess within me. I want to take that edginess and see what God can make of it. After all, God is not about making things simple, but God sure knows how to make things new.