It has been a tiring couple of weeks for our world. Covid-19, or more commonly known as the Coronavirus, has instilled a spirit of fear into the hearts of every single person. While some have made jokes about the virus itself, they are fearful of what the world will come to with the reaction the virus has gotten.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, we cannot let this happen. We as believers must stand together in a time of prayer to expel this spirit of fear from our homes, our schools, our churches, and our countries. We may not know what this will all lead to, but we have to trust in God and his will. Everything that is done is within his supervision, and nothing catches him by surprise.
I have prayed, and had people pray for me, that God would give me the strength to trust him throughout the process of Service Day. I also prayed that he would continue to give me the peace to overwhelm the stress of preparing for it. God has been so generous in answering those prayers for me, and even though I am disheartened at the moment, more later, I still feel the peace of God and I trust him to do his will.
My college, Bryan College, has joined the list of the multitude of schools. Bryan College has made the right decision to extend Spring Break and has left the door open for the possibility of a few more weeks beyond the week extension. With this in mind, all of the extra-curricular activities (sports, mission trips, and our Chorale Tour) have all been canceled and will remain canceled until the school sees fit for us to return to campus. We starting the week after Spring Break, all students will be online and at home. If the school sees fit to continue online and at home for another week after our extended break, then Service Day, the event that I have been planning since August, will be canceled for the first time in its history.
While I am disheartened, God has given me the strength to trust him and a peace. This peace is not happiness but contentment in him. I am sad. I have cried, yelled, and thrown things, but one thing remains and that is Jesus. He has not failed me yet and he never will, but my emotions still stand. My trust is in him and in his plan for his plan is perfect.
The spirit of fear that this virus, this pandemic, has caused is worse than the disease itself. As believers, we must stand with each other and pray. Let us not be blind to the spiritual forces behind this making what they think is a power move. Let us not sit idly as people are worrying about the afterlife and us not tell them the good news that gives all hope. GO! Be safe, but GO! Go to work and share the gospel, more people are willing to listen and they need to hear the good news! What Satan plans to destroy, God is using to open people's hearts! Let us not waste this time that God has given us! Let us go out into our nations and scream from the mountaintops that Jesus is Lord and he is in control!
We cannot let this spirit of fear win, for if we do, then we are surely defeated. God bless and good night.
Thursday, March 12, 2020
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
Empathy
Sometimes days can be rough. Sometimes they can be very productive and good. And other times, they can be both. Today was one of the both kind of days. For my job, I am aiming to get 32-36 people to serve on Service Day which is April 2, 2020. In this job, I have to call each and every project and see what the need is for this year. This is great for me because I love people and I love to serve and know them. Sometimes in my calls, though, I am privileged to hear some of their stories. I take great notice when God allows me to hear these stories because I am extremely empathetic. Being an Empath is feeling everything that a person tells me what they have experienced. If you share with me a dark time, I am there with you. If you tell of heart break, I cry with you. I cannot help but have this Gift from God, but sometimes it drains me. Today was one of those moments that drained me.
One of the people I contacted today had such a terrible couple of years and they were willing to open up to me about this. He told of great heartbreak when his wife passed a couple years ago and then again a few weeks later when his son was killed. As he told me this, I could not keep the tears out of my eyes and I could tell his voice was cracking on the other end. I got off of the phone and I had to stop for a couple of minutes while I prayed and tried to pull myself together. I continued throughout the day hearing that conversation play back and forth in my head. When I feel something with empathy, then I feel it for the day.
A friend in the office and great voice of wisdom later told me that God gives us these gifts to use for his Glory, but we cannot let what we feel using this gift get in the way of all the other things that God wants us to do that day. I reflect on that and see that God has given me a great gift so that I can connect with people. I cannot bear everyone's burdens for all burdens are easier with Christ Jesus by our sides. Jesus, in the Holy Spirit, is who walks beside us to guide us and help us. Though I may feel the heavy burden of people's feelings on me, Jesus is there to take the unnecessary burdens off of me. I still have my cross to bear to follow Jesus, but all the other things can be cast upon Him.
To all my other Empaths out there, take the advice that my friend gave to me. We have a great gift, but we cannot take everyone's burdens as ours. If we do, then that will only weigh us down and not allow us to do God's will for us to the best we can. Listen to people, see people, and help people, but leave the burdens with Christ.
Amen.
One of the people I contacted today had such a terrible couple of years and they were willing to open up to me about this. He told of great heartbreak when his wife passed a couple years ago and then again a few weeks later when his son was killed. As he told me this, I could not keep the tears out of my eyes and I could tell his voice was cracking on the other end. I got off of the phone and I had to stop for a couple of minutes while I prayed and tried to pull myself together. I continued throughout the day hearing that conversation play back and forth in my head. When I feel something with empathy, then I feel it for the day.
A friend in the office and great voice of wisdom later told me that God gives us these gifts to use for his Glory, but we cannot let what we feel using this gift get in the way of all the other things that God wants us to do that day. I reflect on that and see that God has given me a great gift so that I can connect with people. I cannot bear everyone's burdens for all burdens are easier with Christ Jesus by our sides. Jesus, in the Holy Spirit, is who walks beside us to guide us and help us. Though I may feel the heavy burden of people's feelings on me, Jesus is there to take the unnecessary burdens off of me. I still have my cross to bear to follow Jesus, but all the other things can be cast upon Him.
To all my other Empaths out there, take the advice that my friend gave to me. We have a great gift, but we cannot take everyone's burdens as ours. If we do, then that will only weigh us down and not allow us to do God's will for us to the best we can. Listen to people, see people, and help people, but leave the burdens with Christ.
Amen.
2020 Vision
As it has turned over to a new year, so has my life. Many things surround us that we do not tend to see, and many things surround us that we choose not to believe, even if we see. As I sit on a bench at my school, enjoying this cool and refreshing breeze, I notice those who are around me. There are people on hammocks enjoying each other's company and swinging in the wind, there are people who are long-boarding on the sidewalks, and then there are people who simply pass by this wonderful day. I look behind me to my right and I see the Cross that is at the Chapel.
Looking at all these things, I cannot but help think back to my time in Switzerland. The main lesson I learned there was that of people. All people want one thing and that is to be seen by others. It does not matter what religion, ethnicity, nationality, etc., all people want to be seen and understood. This lesson has been so ingrained in my mind for this school year that I even brought it into my job. I am the Service Day Coordinator for Bryan College. Service Day is an event where all of Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee, closes down and serves the community in which we reside. Around 500 people, faculty, staff, and student, go into Rhea county and serve over 3000 people. I have the honor to set this up with our community partners and with the school. My theme is "Vision: Seeing Those Who We Serve" and it is based off of the lesson I learned in Switzerland. When we serve people, regardless if it is Bryan College or you who is reading this, we tend to think of the action of us serving them and not the person we are serving.
We always want the gratification of serving someone that we do not think of the person we are serving. We might love to serve but for what purpose? Is it for the glorification of ourselves or to actually see the person in need as a person and not a project? The people we serve have scars that we do not see. They have stories they want to tell but have no one that stop and listen to them.
So, how do we listen to people? You might say, "Well, Jack, we listen by hearing them." What if I told you that listening is not always with your ears? I've already alluded to how seeing people is not always by our eyes but instead in acts of service. But listening, can that, too, be accomplished through acts of service? What about the other four love languages? While listening can, and often does, start with hearing people, we have to be willing to take what we hear and continue to listen by our actions. Our actions say, "I have heard you loud and clear. I love and care for you so much that I thought of doing this or giving this." Giving of yourself or of material and spiritual needs say already that you hear them. Even if it is in some quality time in a rough patch of life, that too can be hearing the person and what they need.
My challenge to you is to hear and see someone this week. How are you doing that? What is the primary way of you doing that? See yourself and figure out how you can see others around you.
May God bless you and keep you. Amen.
Looking at all these things, I cannot but help think back to my time in Switzerland. The main lesson I learned there was that of people. All people want one thing and that is to be seen by others. It does not matter what religion, ethnicity, nationality, etc., all people want to be seen and understood. This lesson has been so ingrained in my mind for this school year that I even brought it into my job. I am the Service Day Coordinator for Bryan College. Service Day is an event where all of Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee, closes down and serves the community in which we reside. Around 500 people, faculty, staff, and student, go into Rhea county and serve over 3000 people. I have the honor to set this up with our community partners and with the school. My theme is "Vision: Seeing Those Who We Serve" and it is based off of the lesson I learned in Switzerland. When we serve people, regardless if it is Bryan College or you who is reading this, we tend to think of the action of us serving them and not the person we are serving.
We always want the gratification of serving someone that we do not think of the person we are serving. We might love to serve but for what purpose? Is it for the glorification of ourselves or to actually see the person in need as a person and not a project? The people we serve have scars that we do not see. They have stories they want to tell but have no one that stop and listen to them.
So, how do we listen to people? You might say, "Well, Jack, we listen by hearing them." What if I told you that listening is not always with your ears? I've already alluded to how seeing people is not always by our eyes but instead in acts of service. But listening, can that, too, be accomplished through acts of service? What about the other four love languages? While listening can, and often does, start with hearing people, we have to be willing to take what we hear and continue to listen by our actions. Our actions say, "I have heard you loud and clear. I love and care for you so much that I thought of doing this or giving this." Giving of yourself or of material and spiritual needs say already that you hear them. Even if it is in some quality time in a rough patch of life, that too can be hearing the person and what they need.
My challenge to you is to hear and see someone this week. How are you doing that? What is the primary way of you doing that? See yourself and figure out how you can see others around you.
May God bless you and keep you. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)