The Perspicacity Preoccupation

perspicacity: keenness of mental perception and understanding, discernment   

preoccupation: completely engrossed in thought, absorbed

For most everyone on the planet, saved or unsaved, these are some challenging times. There is one thing though that's been bothering me & that's the attitude of quite a few Christian friends of mine on social media & the mindset is growing; it's the sentiment of “I'm tired of all this & just want things to go back to normal.”

Now, I get it. I get it that many people are social, they miss freedom, they miss community, they miss the social intercourse that is ingrained in human nature, they miss the life they were accustomed to, they miss “normalcy” & their idea of it. I'm not ignorant of all that...

When I woke up this morning I was meditating on the Lord & in my spirit I was reminded of the Children of Israel during the Exodus. Here they were in the desert, freed & liberated, on their way to the Promised Land but not yet there & yet complaining, actually wanting to go back to the life they were liberated from. Yes, it was hard, yes, it was an inconvenience but the other side of that inconvenience was going to be so much better than a little, temporary discomfort. The life on the other side would be nothing like the life they had left yet still their hearts yearned for what was & longed for their comfort zone.

I'll be honest, I don't know how & when this pandemic is going to end, I have no idea how long we'll have to stay at home or social distance from each other; personally it doesn't bother me but I'm sensitive to other, normal people (in other words, extroverts). I don't think this'll be too much longer but one of my main concerns is what will happen when it is over, when we get to the other side, will the majority of us go back to business/life/ministry as usual? How easily will we all slip back into our daily routines or our weekly church service structure/format? Will we all mindlessly transition back from the twilight zone to our comfort zones? These are all valid questions…

I'm not downplaying this virus at all, in many ways, this pandemic has been the catalyst to liberate us from our comfort zones, which, in a certain sense, have enslaved us & this quarantine is the transition time in the desert.

Ask these questions: What is it about normalcy that I miss so much & was it actually an idol? What is on the other side of this inconvenience? How can I grow & mature in the Lord during this transition period? What were my priorities then vs what are they now? What was my focus then vs what is it now? Do I really want to go back or do I want to go forward?

How you handle the desert experience will determine your destination.