Philippians 1:9-11
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
While much of this disruption has been hard and challenging, there are some powerful things that have happened as a result. Most of these things have helped point out an opportunity for a RESET that is taking place on several levels.
If you are like me, this COVID crisis has turned my world upside down. Never would I have thought something like this was possible let alone the enormous impact it has had on so many parts of my life. I know many are looking forward to the time when things will be allowed to go back to ‘normal’. However, I am uncertain we will have our old ‘normal’ back again. While much of this disruption has been hard and challenging, there are some powerful things that have happened as a result. Most of these things have helped point out an opportunity for a RESET that is taking place on several levels.
First, my family is experiencing a period of reset. We have had to reset how we do family. We spend way more time together and for the most part, it has been such an unexpected blessing. We play games, laugh, pray and engage with each other way more than before. I have an amazing family who has adjusted so well and I am grateful for the reset my family has experienced.
Second, our church is experiencing a period of reset. If we ever had the wrong belief that church was a building to go to, we sure have had that idea rocked. We are seeing our church engage in totally different ways, and although this is hard and not the way God intended church to be, we are coping and seeing some great things happen as a result of this. We are being creative on how we can do ministry and build community. We are experiencing a determination to make community a greater priority and we will benefit greatly for this.
Last, we can experience a spiritual period of reset. There are times when I need an awakening in my spiritual journey. There are things that take place in my life where I am reminded of the importance of investing in my relationship with Jesus. COVID has reminded many of us that we have more time now than ever before to reach out to God in practical and intentional ways. In doing so, we can see God continue to transform and empower us in greater ways.
In Philippians, Paul is praying for the church that their love would abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight for a specific reason. He wants them to be able to discern what is best for them so they may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ. He also wants them to be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus. As I read over these verses, I am reminded that our reset can come in the form of new practices and priorities that can allow us to grow deeper while we are in isolation and social distancing. We have the opportunity to come away from this with a deeper relationship with Christ that can bring about a more solid foundation. We all need a stronger foundation and if we can prioritize this type of transformation we will benefit greatly in the months and years ahead.
Reset is a beautiful thing…as long as we take advantage of it while we can. This could be your time for a reset in your life on so many levels.
To help with this, we are preparing a number of online NEXT Classes that will provide training and practices to help us grow deeper in our knowledge and depth of insight. Be looking for these classes in the weeks ahead. I would encourage you to use this time to reset your discipleship rhythm to grow a deeper faith while bearing greater fruit of righteousness. Reset is a beautiful thing…as long as we take advantage of it while we can. This could be your time for a reset in your life on so many levels.
Pastor Paul