2020

2020 was definitely a year that we will never forget. Forbes reports 2020 as the most stressful year on record (since it was first tracked in 2006) (Porterfield 2021).  

Clearly, no surprise.  

Most difficult for me, however, was not the pandemic itself, nor the isolation and lockdowns.  

I was most devastated when I was compelled to resign from work in order to help our children with their remote studies at home. 

Prior, work was more than just a job for me.  It was a career I genuinely loved and enjoyed. I had no problem juggling my chores and the girls from daycare and school in order to maintain my work life.

Little did I know.

While unwillingly adjusting to my new role at home, I soon discovered I was granted the gift of time. From baking cookies with the girls to taking long trips away from home, we were able to do all the things I previously wished we could.  I developed a new appreciation for family connections at home.  

But most of all I was now able to work on my spiritual growth and development. Something I have been putting off for a long time.

I began devoting quiet time to prayer and the Word.  I was blown away by the relationship that developed in the prayer closet.  While immersing myself in the Word, it slowly began changing my heart and mind.  

Though clearly, I didn’t know it at the time, the difficulties of 2020 were the best thing that could have happened to me. 

1 Samuel chapters 9 and 10 illustrate a very similar story.

Saul and his father find themselves in a dilemma.  Their donkeys were lost.  Saul’s father desperately sets him out on a journey to search for the lost animals. While searching, he encounters Samuel the prophet.

…the LORD had revealed … to Samuel:  About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. …(vs. 15)

Notice “ I will send you”.  

It was God who orchestrated the present dilemma in order to bring Saul to the prophet Samuel.  

Samuel instructs Saul …

Go up before me to the high place, for you shall eat with me today. …Samuel took Saul and his servant…, and had them sit in the place of honor among those who were invited ... (vs. 19-22)

Another biblical translation states "Go up to the place of worship”.  

The high place and place of worship resemble the secret place where we encounter God in the prayer closet.  He gives us the best seats at his table.  We dine and have fellowship with the Father. 

While we devote time to the Word and fellowship with him, it transforms our hearts.  

As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart. (ch. 10:9)

When Saul’s family lost their donkeys, they had no idea what God was up to.  God was escorting Saul into the high place and molding him into the new man he wanted him to be.

Likewise, the challenges we presently face may just be the divine vehicles that escort us into a deeper, more intimate relationship with the Father.  There he transforms us on the inside. 

“When I understand that everything happening to me is to make me more Christlike, it resolves a great deal of anxiety.”

-A.W. Tozer


Supporting Texts

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. (Rev. 3:20)

 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another..(1Jn. 1:7)

...and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,...(Ep. 2:6)

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (Ro. 8:28)

  

Porterfield, C. (n.d.). 2020 Was The Most Stressful Year On Record, Poll Finds. Forbes. Retrieved December 2, 2023, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2021/07/20/2020-was-the-most-stressful-year-on-record-poll-finds/?sh=63263df767de