“…and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him…” Colossians 3:10

 Returning to Normal

I have often said, during times of extreme stress and turmoil in my life, that I wished everything would just get back to normal. I wanted the comfort of feeling like I’ve always felt, doing what I always do, hanging out with my same friends, eating the same foods. I usually like predictability. Returning to normal after weeks of staying home, away from church and restaurants and and shopping and my job, is something I have looked forward to on many levels.

A few weeks ago, I was writing cards of encouragement to some people I knew in church, with the intention of bringing hope and peace during this pandemic. I carefully chose Scriptures that I believed would let them know they were loved and not forgotten. Often, I would say things like, “Soon everything will be normal again,” implying that normal is the best way to be.

I have now had ample opportunity to re-think this. The Spirit has posed a question to me: Haven’t you been changed by these past few weeks? Do you really want things to go back to the way they were?

Admittedly, I did not lose a loved one to the virus. I did not lose income, I did not postpone an elective surgery, I did not suddenly have my kids underfoot all day, and I did not go hungry. If any of these things did happen in your life, then you will be changed by them. For many of us, though, these past weeks have brought mostly inconvenience, and perhaps a chance to rest and think.

I want to be changed by the events we have experienced. I want to come out “on the other side” with a revived heart and mind. I want to fall in love with Jesus and His Word more than before. I want to know that I have sought Him in prayer more earnestly. I want to love more and, yes, be more connected to the people in my life.

In writing the words “more,” I mean “differently.” To love Jesus differently, to be differently affected by His Word. To pray differently. To connect with people differently. I do not want “back to normal.” I want to be more Christlike. To seek God differently. To see more awe and wonder in what He does regularly (like giving us breath, and making a new landscape at every sunset), as well as what He does only occasionally (like this pandemic in which so many people around the world are thinking seriously about the brevity of life and are turning to Him for the first time).

No, I do not want normal. I want better. I want to be transformed. I want to be shaken up, so to speak, not just “stirred” (to quote a spy movie). Even if my new path looks something like my old path, I pray that the person walking on that path would be completely renewed.

Lord, I ask for a work of Your Spirit. Change and renew us, Lord, for Your glory. Amen.