Thrive

We were made to thrive. We were created to be curious, to explore, to conquer, to puzzle, to sing, to love, and to live. Our current situation has caused many people to no longer thrive the way they should. Fear of a virus looms over us and lurks in the corners. Fear sucks away the joy of life until we sit meekly at its feet ready to obey its every whim.

This should not be! As a Christians we should instead turn to the many verses in the Bible that say, ‘do not fear’. A favorite of mine come from 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, BUT a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline. That’s so encouraging… and sobering. If fear does not come from God where does it come from? It comes from Satan. He wants to destroy you.

You stay home, you social distance, you follow all the rules, you’re physically healthy…yet you’re still afraid. Is this really living? No! We were made to thrive and grow. It hurts my heart to see so many people just trying to ‘get by’ until we are cleared to go back to our normal lives.

We are given a limited number of days on this earth. We don’t know if our life ends today or in fifty years. Life is a precious gift, use it! At this point I think that most of us have gone through a bit of a grieving process for the freedoms and lives that we have lost. That’s healthy, we need to process, but we also shouldn’t stay stuck there.

Now is the time to stop settling, to enjoy the moment, and to look ahead. Let’s use a kingdom mindset instead of an earthly one. Ask God for the joy and peace that you are lacking. He loves to answer our prayers! Pray for the church body as a whole. Pray for a revival of hearts and renewed commitment to Him. Look for opportunities to share His love even when you’re at home by blessing a spouse or other family member. It may be a simple as a phone call.

Bake a cake, grill out, read a book, start exploring your local forest or park, don’t settle! Don’t make the best of the situation, make it the BEST situation.