A Year With COVID-19 – Continuing to Serve God

It has been a year since COVID-19 started making the news. At first, it was a virus impacting people in other countries and had little impact on my life. But it was not long before it came here and became a major disruption to our way of life. It has impacted people in many ways, and not always the same from day to day. In this post, I am looking at it from my perspective. What has this past year been like for me?

We Are All Different

I am not the same as you. While we may share many of the same attributes, each of us is unique. And, I believe, God has equipped, or gifted, us in different ways to serve him within the body of Christ. While we are all called to live godly and holy lives that honor our Lord, we each have distinctive roles within the body.

Regardless of the impact COVID-19 has made in your life this past year, God is still in control and has a purpose for you. Don’t let fear of illness, the potential economic impact of the containment measures, or the isolation caused by those same measures keep you from drawing closer to our Lord. Trust in him, regardless of what you are going through. And seek to serve him where you are. That may be in a totally new way, or a transformed way. But, even in the midst of COVID-19, we are called, and equipped, to serve.

My Life This Past Year

Like most of you, I have had to adapt to the new reality of COVID-19 this past year. I have learned to wear and be comfortable with masks, recognizing them, not as an inconvenience, but as a selfless act of love to the others I am around. Rather than eating in the dining room of a restaurant, we get takeout, or drive-thru, and find a scenic vista to enjoy our meal. Our church life has moved from in-person to online. Not as satisfying, but it has been good and does have some advantages. And my in-person social life, which was never very great, is, apart from family, nearly all online now.

A Clay Jar

I started A Clay Jar about 10 years ago and have over 1000 published posts now. At first, I wrote on a variety of topics, and generally without any kind of schedule. But in the past few years, I have focused on writing for the church and doing so more consistently. This has gone along with what appears to be God’s redirection in my life from one area of service to another.

One year ago, A Clay Jar was averaging nearly 190 views a day. Each view represents a person loading an article from the site into their web browser. They may or may not have read it, but they at least saw it. So far this month, the average page view count has risen to nearly 700 a day. In addition, the site now has over 350 subscribers who receive each post via email as it is published. There are literally thousands of websites that have more traffic than mine. But I am excited about how God is blessing and using A Clay Jar in service to his kingdom and to the Church.

I share this, not to draw attention to either myself or A Clay Jar. Rather it is to share that God is still at work in this world suffering from COVID-19. As expressed above, we are all different and equipped differently to serve God and his church. It is likely that you are not a writer able to develop and maintain a website. God has equipped me and, I believe, prepared me for this time over the past years of my life. And I believe the same is true for you as well. If you are willing to serve, God will use you. Even in this time.

An Encouraging Word

I know many believers are discouraged now. Restrictions on gathering. Masking requirements. Fears concerning our change in government. And many other disruptions to our daily lives. How can we worship and serve God when so many of the freedoms we take for granted, including assembling together, seem to have been removed? But God is still on his throne. And we are still a part of his kingdom. A kingdom that is not held back by anything that is happening in this world, including this year with COVID-19. Rather than be discouraged by what is happening, we should rejoice that God can, and will, use us in a new way.

How it is that God might use you is beyond me. But he can and will if you let him. Rather than be discouraged or just treading water until this is over, take up the helmet, sword, and shield, and stand your ground in the great fight against our real enemy. And that is not COVID-19, our government, or anything else in the physical world.

For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Romans 12:4-8 NIV

Disclaimer

The views expressed here are solely mine and do not necessarily reflect those of any other person, group, or organization. While I believe they reflect the teachings of the Bible, I am a fallible human and subject to misunderstanding. Please feel free to leave any comments or questions about this post in the comments section below. I am always interested in your feedback.

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