By Tushti Namisha Aind
Bengaluru, April 6, 2020: God works in mysterious ways, but always for our good. I have always believed that I live a decent Christian life. I have my daily prayers, go to church often, do community service. But who knew God will take us out of our comfort zone just to be there with us, journey with us, to be quarantined with us.
As the uncertainty about present rules, not knowing for how many days we will be locked inside our houses, God is inviting us to have a spiritual communion with Him.
God has always been a God who wants to have a personal relationship with each one of us. He has taken away all the idols from our lives that we had made, to have a closer communion with us. We have been given work from home option or alternate days of work, no movie theatres, no outdoor recreation, no unnecessary socializing and gossiping.
He has contained us in our own homes just like Old Testament days. Being quarantined is not something new for us Christians; it is a time of mighty outpouring of God’s blessings. From the time of Noah in the book of Genesis, to the Exodus story, we have seen God sending His people to Quarantine. So it is not a time to be distressed, anxious or worried rather to praise God and be hopeful, because we are surely going to witness His glory soon.
Philippians 4:6: “Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”
I want to share my experience of this 21-day lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic from Christian point of view. That too happens during Lent which is the most important season of Christians in the entire year—a season of homecoming and turning towards God. Initially, I was relaxed, knowing everything will be under control; this is the much-awaited break from work.
I can finally have some “me” time. But soon fear, anxiety, worries started gripping my life. I realized, if I stay at home, all alone, far from family, just doing some office work and watching TV, web series, pray for a while, I might drown myself in the ocean of thoughts, and it might affect my mental health. I started devoting more time in prayer, but it was turning to be monotonous. I was asking Lord too many questions without getting any answers. It took me 2-3 days to give full control to God about the present situation and let go of my concerns.
The first lesson learned was – surrender – ‘Let Go, And Let God.’
I started with prioritizing things in my life. It gave a sense of ‘Discipline and Discipleship.’ My prayer life and meditation, my work, health, house, hobbies, talents, giving time to family and friends, social and community responsibilities, all of this fell in place.
Next in line was obedience and commitment. Gladly, few of us like-minded people decided to take advantage of all the technology that God has gifted us during this lockdown period. All of us staying away from home started video conferencing our daily prayers and intercessions. Thus it is being obedient and committed towards our spiritual life.
We started group chats to discuss our faith journey, testimonies and daily struggles of being quarantined. Family ties and bonds started strengthening as we called each other to check on them. And we could see God taking care of all our needs. There were GOD sent angels in the form of people to help us in our difficult moments. And not just that, we were also able to reach out to a few other people in need. This entire experience humbled us a lot and kept us motivated.
When we start putting God first in everything we do, all things fall in place. Life is set in order and it calms us down. We realize the role of a creator in our lives, who is in love with us unconditionally. We start understanding that trials are only to strengthen us and develop greater trust in our living God.
God never leaves us; He just redirects us to Himself.
God has given this opportunity to introspect our lives and trust Him and Him alone, just like Biblical days. Leaving behind every possession and relying completely on God’s providence. God’s promises are still alive amidst all the chaos around us. He will sustain us.
[Tushti Namisha Aind is a senior analyst in an MNC Bank, Bengaluru. She is also a member of a discipleship program called ‘PREMASHANTHI,’ (peace-love) where the members are committed towards adult catechism, counseling and mercy works.]