A Holiday Travel Guide for Decoding COVID-19

"COVID-19 makes every choice so very complicated.”

My friend Cheri nailed it with her bottom-line clarity in the above quote! And she is not alone. All around me — in my neighborhood, in my family, in my Zoom meetings — I hear conversations confirming that indeed, COVID-19 makes every choice so very complicated. Take that confusion forward and see how it colors our holiday planning.

We ask:

• Should we travel for the holidays?

• Should we stay at home?

• Do we invite family over?

• Do we celebrate alone?

• What about a drive to visit our aging parents?

• How do we respond to input from authorities like Dr. Fauci who remind us that each family has to do their own risk assessment and weigh the benefits against the risks?

• If we go, will our visit compromise their health, or will our presence serve to boost their immune systems?

And on and on and on.

However, — and here is the great News — God offers a different Holiday Travel Guide for Decoding the COVID Dilemma. In His Word He provides a holy and secure GPS.

With this thought, a collection of decision-making verses provide much-needed solid ground for us to stand on. While outcomes will indeed vary as we individually offer our situations to Him, His wisdom and guidance remain consistently available. We need only to take time to pause, ponder, and pray our way forward in this holiday season.

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me”(John 10:27 ESV).

“My Presence will go with you and I will give you rest”(Exodus 33:14).

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you with My eye upon you” (Psalm 32:8).

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 5:5-6 NKJV).

“Cause me to hear Your loving kindness in the morning, for in You do I trust; cause me to know the way I should walk, for I lift up my soul to You” (Psalm 143:6-8 NKJV).

“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21).

“This is what the Lord says — your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go” (Isaiah 48:17).

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV).

“You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you” (Isaiah 26:3).

“Thy will be done …” (Luke 11:2c KJV).

Living With Eternal Intentionality®

Do you find yourself in a boondoggle over the holiday decision-making process?

Which Scriptures in this collection speak peace to you?

If you had to make a decision regarding your plans in the next five minutes — to gather or not to gather, to travel or not to travel — what would be your decision?

How to Rethink the Will of God

Sometimes life takes us places we never wanted to go and requires us to live lives we never dreamed we would live. For this reality, the Scriptures offer much needed comfort and direction: “… even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast” (Psalm 139:7, 10).

Allow the words penned by an unknown author to wash over you, inspire you, and infuse you with hope.

THE WILL OF GOD

The will of God will never take you,

Where the grace of God cannot keep you.

Where the arms of God cannot support you,

Where the riches of God cannot supply your needs,

Where the power of God cannot endow you.

The will of God will never take you,

Where the spirit of God cannot work through you,

Where the wisdom of God cannot teach you,

Where the army of God cannot protect you,

Where the hands of God cannot mold you.

The will of God will never take you,

Where the love of God cannot enfold you,

Where the mercies of God cannot sustain you,

Where the peace of God cannot calm your fears,

Where the authority of God cannot overrule for you.

The will of God will never take you,

Where the comfort of God cannot dry your tears,

Where the Word of God cannot feed you,

Where the miracles of God cannot be done for you,

Where the omnipresence of God cannot find you.

-author unknown

Living With Eternal Intentionality®

“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? … even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast” (Psalm 139:7, 10).

At this moment, describe the even there in your life and circumstances.

Which line of this poem brings you the most encouragement?

How does this unknown author’s writing motivate you to Rethink the Will of God?

4 Powerful Convictions for Living With Eternal Intentionality®

When one commits to Living With Eternal Intentionality, life takes on a depth of meaning and purpose encapsulated in the word destiny. Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly, that it might be full and meaningful” (John 10:10).

While Scripture tells us “He has also set eternity in their hearts” (Ecclesiastes 3:11), assumptions rob us of the God-given opportunity to live with dynamic focus. So, rather than live in default mode, I suggest 4 Powerful Convictions which allow us to think eternally while living temporally.

Intimacy with Jesus

You and I are given the opportunity, not only to believe in Jesus, but to BE with Jesus. Our Savior invites us to worship Him, to get to know Him, to walk with Him—to do life One-on-one with Him. What starts inside us as a flicker develops into a flaming fire when we devote ourselves to walk with Him on our own Emmaus Road. (Luke 24:13) Intimacy is a rare quality in today’s world, and intimacy with Jesus is rarer still. Yet I am convinced that developing intimacy with Jesus is our first concern each day. And, as Dr. Charles Stanley says, “Intimacy with God, His greatest priority for our lives, determines the impact of our lives.”

Authenticity with others

False, fake, and fictional plague our society. The world desperately longs to discover a real person with real problems who walks with a real Jesus. With security and significance grounded in Him, we are not intimidated to relate with transparency. “Be who God created you to be and you will set the world on fire.” -St. Catherine of Sienna

A Passion for your calling

Our culture fights for our attention and exerts itself to commandeer our passions. Yet, pursuing a loving and ever-increasing vibrant love for God is our divine decree. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength” (Mark 12:28-30).

A Purpose for your influence

Before Jesus left, He gave us a holy homework assignment. Not just a benediction, this statement of purpose is implanted within the spiritual DNA of every follower of Christ. Speaking in Scotland in the Autumn of 1930, Olympian Eric Liddell said, “Tonight, I want to leave a message for you all; we are all missionaries.”

Jesus wanted His children to know how to invest their days while He left them here on earth. He said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Telling people everywhere includes literally everywhere: kitchen tables, carpools, dorm rooms, front porches, baby nurseries, fitness centers, soup kitchens, boardrooms, neighborhoods, military bases, coffee shops, soccer pitches. And, indeed, everywhere certainly embraces the nation on the other side of the globe. Wherever you and I find ourselves, we look through these location lenses to see a God-given purpose for our influence.

Viewing these 4 convictions holistically, intimacy, authenticity, passion, and purpose coalesce together to lay a framework for Living with Eternal Intentionality. Upon this structure Jesus Himself is the Architect to, as the Westminster Catechism states, bring about “the chief end of man — to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”

Living with Eternal Intentionality®

Led by the prayer of the psalmist we embrace each God-given day as a gift, “So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12 NHEB).

So, what do you think?

What would you offer as your definition for Living with Eternal Intentionality?

Do the suggestions above spur you on in any particular manner?

Which of the 4 convictions stirs within you a longing for growth?