God is Present with Me in a Covid-19 World

God is our refuge and strength, a help in the afflictions that have come heavily upon us.

Psalm 46: 1 (Brenton Septuagint Translation)

It has been difficult this staying at home to stay safe from an invisible disease that has affected the lives of millions of people all over the world at the same time. Never would I have dreamed that in my already single-hood "kind of life" where I had everything so finely planned to spend that quiet time I treasure to do the things I love to do as an Introvert like studying, reading, crocheting, swimming and enjoying a long afternoon drive alone to talk to God...and sometimes to myself would become more isolated than usual. It was all so sudden and unplanned for me as well as some (or all) of you. It has if I may repeat myself, been a difficult adjustment.

However, in it, I have always believed deep in my heart that God would bring some good out of this present day disaster. I feel deeply about those who are sick with Covid-19, recovering and especially for those families who have lost loved ones during this pandemic either by disease or some other type of passing. In a stay at home/stay safe environment of social distancing, even "regular deaths" (no death is "regular" so bear with me), losing a loved one, planning a funeral, deciding who can attend or closing the door to persons who would love to be there to support the family, is at its highest form of grieving well beyond the "regular stages" of grief. My childhood classmate died on last Saturday and there is no funeral and I am now smitten with a personal grief and shocked by the unnaturalness of it all. Entering the stages of grief are more difficult when you can't come together as family and friends to say goodbye. I am weeping with the family and with myself.

Yet...God is still good even in all of this and the daily new normal routines of life I have to plan to keep up my spiritual, mental, physical and social health. Thank God for social media: Facetime, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Internet. You don't feel so lonely when you can reach out with a text message or meet with a group of people by Zoom. I have really been fortified with these online meetings. I am also tapping into other church ministries like New Birth Baptist Church in Georgia and dancing and singing with their praise team has been like going to church! Some ministries as they adjust their services to an online platform are doing better than others, but all are appreciated. What would I do without the Body of Christ, the Word of God and the Blessed Holy Spirit keeping me company? Thank you Lord that you are everywhere - I so appreciate you Jesus!

This Jesus...this Great God Our Father is everywhere and ever-present. That's how I'm surviving in the difficulty of not being able to do my usual routines of life because the Lord is with me and is sheltering me under His Big Arms of Love and Refuge. I feel His touch in the night season and in the morning light. I hear His voice when I prepare to work from home. I listen to His stirrings when He says, "now don't do this or that....or do this or that". It's quiet and that is a good that He is bringing out of this terrible tragedy a love for quietness, a time for reflection, an opportunity to get needed unfinished projects done, a joy in knowing that He is with me in the daily struggles of coping and teaching me new ways to accomplish important tasks and the knowledge that "He will never leave me nor forsake me". He is not aloof or a God that is a far off: He is present, near, a shelter, a strength and helping me to deal with every problem, helping me with my burdens, easing a mind that would otherwise be afflicted with worry and bringing me good success in the midst of the crisis. He is my strong God.

I don't know what you are going through or how you are facing this storm of life that is forever reshaping our lives, but I want you to think about, muse on the God who is alive, sitting on His throne, looking upon you and your every need, a prayer away, a tear away and a cry away. He is present and He is present in His world that He made to stop the storm in His time, to give the cure, to stop the disease and to give us all a new perspective of Him and ourselves and those around us.

My God is Faithful, Mighty and Able.

Love, Verinda