Escaping or Enveloping

Are We Trying to be Invisible or Are We Ready to Fight Fear?

If you knew the outcome of the Covid-19 pandemic situation, what would change inside of you? What would you do differently? And, who would you tell about this?

Which questions have you been pondering in your mind? Why is this happening to us? How can Jesus allow this to happen to His people? What happened to all the great things He has done for others, why not to or for us? Maybe you have other questions, but these are some questions that have been surrounding our minds these days.

Without the answers - sometimes it feels like the best thing to do is wait it out. Hide. Disappear.

When my niece was small she used to cover her eyes when she did not want to be seen. In her mind, not seeing anyone made her invisible as well. She would ignore the difficult situation and be "invisible" until the person gave up and walked away.

I cannot become invisible or hide my eyes from my world, but I do escape in difficult times. I no longer count the hours of streaming videos or time on social networks since the pandemic started because I would be embarrassed by the amount. Sitting in front of a screen helps me escape. Escape from real life and pretend I am OK. I do this to not have to think about what negative things I may be feeling or to avoid the problems in the world and go to what seems like a better life. An alternative life where the virus is not changing everything.

But when I am in this other world for too long, I miss Jesus' purpose for me. His voice becomes drowned out and I suddenly feel smaller. I cannot remember how He sees me.

This makes me question myself. My friends and my family too.

Are we escaping or enveloping His truth?

It was probably a sunny afternoon that Gideon was near the tree, hiding wheat in a winepress. He must have been there, worrying about the Midianites getting to his wheat, as it seemed as though they had taken control of everything in his life for the past 7 years. Nothing was left to chance - he was planning for the worst. This is the reaction many of us have during the pandemic.

In his case, and maybe in ours too, Gideon felt he was the most insignificant of his family, the least of his people, nothing to worry about. God must have forgotten him. Maybe he would think to himself, “Why am I worrying...this is so stupid! I know God is in control…” But yet, he still felt so scared and so worried. Because even though he knew God's promises, his reality looked way different.

And he was putting his hope in escaping the Midianites’ sight, by hiding his wheat somewhere unexpected. He was hoping he could be invisible. He thought he was invisible to God.

What little confidence. If he really was a good (replace Jew with a follower of Jesus here), why was he afraid? Why was he worrying? Didn’t he know God was in control?

God saw Gideon in this place. He saw him both physically and emotionally. He knew Gideon felt defeated and hopeless about the future. That is why God kept speaking words of encouragement. God's plan was to raise that mighty warrior Gideon and His people from that hiding place where fear was the ruler. To God, Gideon was anything but invisible. His people were not invisible either.

God spoke these words in bullets to Gideon in Judges chapter 6 and He is speaking them over you too. I replaced the word Midianite with the word fear for it to be more relatable today. Or if you have another struggle, you can replace the word fear with whatever you are feeling - be it anxiety, worry, anger, helplessness or hopelessness:

Mighty warrior, the Lord is with you.
You are strong. Go and save [others] from the power of [fear]. I am sending you.
I will be with you. So you will strike down [fear].
I will wait until you return.
May peace be with you! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.

Not once but twice Gideon asked God to confirm with a sign that God was truly going to use him. He needed to be sure that God really wanted to use him. And that God really meant that he, Gideon, was visible and worthy, a mighty warrior loved by God.

My family and I struggle at times in this time of pandemic because we have heard, read, spoken about and have even experienced God's power but we have not been face to face with God ourselves. We also struggle seeing His hand in this virus. Somedays it feels like He is yet to be our GOD. We have yet to trust HIM and believe in what He has said about us.

So here is the challenge for you, for me, and for my family. At the end of this blog I ask you to take 1 minute, or if you can take 5, 15, 30 or even 60 minutes to just allow God to speak to you.

Remain quiet; your mind will start getting in the way and you will want to start saying something. You may feel the need to do something. Resist the temptation and wait.

If you are not comfortable being completely quiet, repeat a simple verse like: “Mighty warrior, the Lord is with you.”

Do listen, because God wants to speak to you. He wants to encourage you, He wants to lift you up and affirm you. He wants to use you even in a fearful, hopeless, and seemingly invisible state. Do not escape - envelop His truth.

About the author
Kira Day is an international field worker who, along with her family, has lived in 3 different countries in the past 11 years. She loves seeing Jesus in the eyes of different cultures as well as making Him and His gospel accessible to all peoples, especially the neglected. She and her husband sparked a church planting movement in an unreached and unengaged people group in Asia where they currently live.

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