“FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS” — A VICTORIOUS LIFE IN THE AGE OF COVID

By Jill Roberts and Michael Canalé

 

This week, Michael and I were talking about what we want this blog to be, i.e. how to live godly, even joyful lives, now, in the time of Covid and the era of the domino effects of it in almost every aspect of our reality. Michael reminded me of our studies of Paul and how this apostle found joy during the extremely challenging circumstances of his life. As Michael says, he often analogized his perseverance in athletic terms:

 

“I have fought the good fight. I have finished the RACE, I have kept the faith.” (emphasis added).

(2 Timothy 4:7) NIV

 

“Anyone who competes as an ATHLETE does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules.” (emphasis added).

(2 Timothy 2:5) NIV

 

“Do you know that in a RACE all the RUNNERS RUN, but only one gets the prize? RUN in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the GAMES goes into strict TRAINING. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not RUN like someone RUNNING aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. (emphasis added).

(1 Corinthians 9:24-26) NIV

 

(We are indebted to Steven J. Lawson and his Tabletalk article, “Athletic Metaphors for the Christian Life.”)

 

With Covid and its ramifications, we were all hoping and praying for a sprint. And yet, we appear to be on track for a marathon. How do we train differently, how do we run differently when this pandemic is not measured in feet but in long and arduous miles? How do we pace ourselves, in the words of William Faulkner’s Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, not just to endure, but to prevail?

 

Michael says that we must train so as “to get to God. We must devote ourselves to reading the Bible and its accounts of prevailing during difficult times.” He goes on to add that we must  “follow the practices and the teachings of Jesus until what we do is well-established habit. This is how we create stabilizing anchors for our metaphorical boats in this global crisis.”

 

Indeed, is this not exactly what Paul did? Echoing Jesus’ thoughts as expressed in the Sermon on the Mount, his parables and in all of his teachings, Paul wrote what provided the key to his ability to maintain his joy and to run the race well under adverse conditions:

 

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

(Romans 12:2) NIV

 

When we take stock of our planet today, we might ask ourselves this question: “What is the pattern of this world as to our minds and thoughts, as we react to our present situation? It would seem that the vast majority of us just want “things to return to normal,” and for us to leave 2020 and 2021 in our rear view mirrors. Surely, we reason, were Paul on Earth right now, would he not have fallen into lockstep with the rest of us, his mind conforming to that of the pattern of OUR world?

 

But would he? As a backdrop, Paul was living in circumstances at least as challenging as our own. As we recall from earlier blogs about him, Paul was, on multiple occasions, whipped, stoned, shipwrecked and imprisoned, to name a few of his sufferings. It was while he was imprisoned in Ephesus, a jail that provided harsher conditions than most, that he penned the following words:

 

“REJOICE in the Lord, ALWAYS. I say it again: REJOICE!…The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about ANYTHING, but in EVERY situation, by PRAYER AND PETITION, WITH THANKSGIVING, present your requests to God…” (emphasis added)

(Philippians 4:4,6) NIV

 

When we harmonize the above Scriptural passages, Paul is clearly telling us what can transport us to a joyful life in the midst of horrific events. It is a renewing of our minds that lifts us from the mindset dominating the pattern of the world around us. We are to pray, using the approach that a true athlete uses in training for an athletic contest – patiently, passionately and with perseverance. The result will be the prize that only He can bestow – peace of mind and deliverance from the troubled times that threaten to overwhelm us. As Michael says, “Our boat will have an anchor that secures us in the worst of life’s storms.”

 

An iconic Scriptural example of this is the story of Esther, found in the Old Testament book of that name. This remarkable woman, a Jew, and all of the Jews were facing complete genocide because of a plot initiated by a fifth-century anti-Semite, Haman, and revealed to Esther by her Uncle Mordecai. Queen Esther, married to King Xerxes, the foolish author of the irrevocable elimination edict, is persuaded by Mordecai that she, alone, holds the power to persuade her husband to somehow reverse the course of this, on its face, an irreversible order and, thereby, save her and the other Jews. What words of persuasion did Mordecai use? – some of the most storied in the Bible:

 

“Who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.”

(Esther 4:14) NIV

 

After fasting and praying by herself and with her attendants, and with her own life at risk in appearing before the King without an invitation, an offense punishable by death, Esther appealed to King Xerxes and, ultimately, she and her People were saved.

 

Like us, in this pandemic, Esther’s and many other lives lay in the balance. As Paul would advocate centuries later, she turned to passionate, persistent prayer. The fear she initially felt in going to her husband, a fear that notably stopped her on her first attempt to plead her case before him, was overcome. She ran her race to win the prize of her own and her People’s deliverance. She took to heart Mordecai’s words that she was “born for such a time as this.” Her life was intentionally being lived in that timespan, during a threat visited upon her and all she had known of life prior to this threat.

 

Our friends, is it just some stroke of fate, a mere coincidence that we have been placed on Earth during this pandemic or is God still on the throne? It is famously said, “God saves His hardest battles for His strongest soldiers.” Apparently, these are us. We are in one tough battle. The heroes who lived during World War II are aptly named, the “Greatest Generation.” Their harsh season defined them in their greatness. May this time in which we are living, define, not defeat us.

 

May we turn to the pedigree of intense prayer that will renew our minds so that we will, first, search the Scripture and our souls as to why we have been placed here in such a time as this. Once the Lord answers, and He will, may we, next, actually embrace the roles that He who knows what is best, has ordained for us. We are not here in 2022 by accident. Like Esther, in her time, God means for us to be the deliverers of something or someone in this present age. As the writer of Hebrews 12:1-2, KJV, said,

 

“And let us run with patience the race that is set out before us. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…”

 

James joins Paul in speaking of our crowns:

 

“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial, because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”

(James 1:12) NIV

 

Is this the time we wanted, even dreamed of? No! Is it the time in which God has placed us? Yes! We must identify our roles and achieve greatness in them. Surely, at the finish line of this hard race, will be such a prize that when we reflect on it, ages from now, we will say, with all our hearts, that we would have run no other. 

 

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