If the coronavirus had headquarters, I’d nail this manifesto to the door –

We will not panic.

We will be wise and courageous.

We will take C. S. Lewis’s advice.

We will remind ourselves and each other that a virus may win some battles, but it will lose the war. Death is defeated. Victory belongs to our God.

We will not laugh at other people’s paranoia, because God doesn’t protect the proud. He opposes them.

We will not be stupid. We will love our neighbours by washing our hands.

We will use times of isolation and limited gatherings to be still. To pray, read, rest, recalibrate and regain perspective on life. We will lose the scaffolding to which we attach too much false identity and remember that each of us is just a breath.

We won’t stress about church meetings and momentum because Jesus is building His bride, not us. And podcasts are a thing.

We will pray the blessing of Aaron (and Elevation Worship):

May His favour be upon you and a thousand generations
And your family and your children, and their children, and their children.

In the morning, in the evening, in your coming, and your going
In your weeping, and rejoicing, He is for you, He is for you.

We will not worry about anything; instead, we’ll pray about everything. We’ll tell God what we need, and thank Him for all He has done.

We will remind ourselves and each other: our sovereign, good God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love Him, and the ‘good’ Paul speaks of is us becoming more like Jesus.

We will pray that God, the source of hope, fills us completely with joy and peace because we trust in Him. Then we’ll overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The joy of the Lord will be our strength, and we’ll shine like bright lights in this generation.

. . .

Strength for the new week, friends! Let’s be the (washed) hands and feet of Jesus in these strange times.

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