So, it happened. Three months into just hearing about the much-dreaded COVID-19, it finally reached Philippine shores and, just a few days ago, has been declared as a locally transmitted disease. This announcement means that it's not only those who had travel history overseas could acquire the virus. It could now be anyone in the local community. The government's response? Community quarantine. Only people with work and official business must be seen out of their cities. And as the number of positive cases continues to rise (230 cases as of March 20, 12NN), this community quarantine is even made stricter. Now with the whole of Luzon under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), no one had been able to get out of their houses. Cities are locked down, and no one goes in or out aside from the food and essential services providers and medical workers.
My first seven days being "stuck" at my parents' place sure felt like at least thrice as long. I have been so used to the daily grit and grind of life, that having to stay put at one place suddenly felt... alien. I loved the time off of work, true, but an ideal place of rest feels more like your favorite cafe place in town, where you could read, write, and reflect with the usual chill cafe music going on, with your favorite drink at hand. Needless to say, we have all been thrown off-course by this pandemic. Many people are in places they don't necessarily want to be in for the next 21 more days, but they were left with little choice. Some family members are geographically distanced from their families. Churches, most of all, are unable to meet for at least four weeks! And God forbid that it would even be longer than that! But whatever our situation is and wherever we are, this ECQ has given everybody one common thing--extra time.
When we have unexpected extra time at our disposal, how do we spend it? What have we been reading or listening to? When we are agitated and suddenly thrown off our routine, we are hardwired to go back to our natural tendencies. Without careful and deliberate decision to "redeem the time," most of us could just resort to binge-watching Netflix (I haven't seen Kingdom, but I read about it every day in my feed!), day-long scrolling on social media (hello, fellow Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram users), or sleeping in (after all, you deserve to make up for all those sleepless nights for work, right? Right? Or not). Philippians 4:8, however, gives us a command that we could very well apply during our time of house arrest:
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
We are not only to avoid that which are inherently evil but even to dispel from our thoughts anything that is not true, honorable, etc. Instead, we are to fill our minds with the things above, meaning, of God (Col. 3:2). Of course, this is me preaching to myself. Instead of downloading an RPG game I've dreamed to play again for the longest time, I had to keep reminding myself that these extra hours and days could have a better use than just pressing my laptop's four arrow keys. So, thanks to all the free online resources out there, I've had more opportunities to listen to sermons and read books for free. Here are some snippets and highlights of the materials that kept me company throughout the first week of community quarantine.
March 15, Sunday - Day 1
The first Sunday away from my home church! The feeling of comfort of still being in fellowship with His people despite the abnormal circumstances, and the feeling of grief for not seeing the SGC brethren this day, kept tugging my heart. But Pastor Joey's sermon that afternoon in TRBC only confirmed what He has promised--that His special presence is in the midst of His people gathered as a church, and the He knows what His children need to hear. This sermon reminded me, personally, that God is sovereign over every detail of the events in this world, and that He is sovereign in every detail of my life as well. He never wastes an occurrence, but use everything for His purpose--to bring about the good of His people. You may listen to the full sermon through this link. It started recording from the congregational singing, so if you want to jump to the sermon, start watching at 24:06 time stamp.
March 16, Monday - Day 2
It's not verbatim, but I got this train of thought from one of Abba's "broadcasts" from Antipolo when the community quarantine began. In my One Line a Day journal, I wrote this line about hampered church life:
It's funny and sad how in a moment's notice, what has been the constant in your life suddenly cannot be done anymore.Listening to this sermon further confirmed what I have been pondering on ever since hearing of the threat of a lockdown. I realized that though one's heart may truly worship, and long, and pant for the courts of God and for encountering God and His people, there is a danger of being too reliant on the routine expressions of worship when they have been there for the longest time. During this time of discontinuity in the regular church gatherings, I felt the struggle and unrest. Definitely, we must struggle, and we must do everything in our power to fulfill our commitment to our local church. But what does your heart tell you when it is providentially clear that you are meant to worship elsewhere? Or, as is most likely the case for the coming weeks for us, when you are meant to be confined in a house on a Sunday? This sermon last Sunday pointed me back to the heart of the matter, which is the matter of the heart. When all our privileged access to the known means of grace are taken away, the real condition of our heart is revealed. To read the abstract and to listen to the full sermon, click this link.
March 17, Tuesday - Day 3
What better way of spending this quarantine period but with more time to read the Scripture? I have recently come across once again with Psalm 77 as part of my year-long Bible reading plan and, once again, Psalm 77 strikes as one of those many Psalms that teach us how to respond appropriately to the seemingly dark occurrences around us. Even as it ended its verses, the psalm did not indicate any change in the psalmist's situation--just a shift in perspective. But that shift made all the difference. What about us? Are we so intently focused on the mundane things of this earthly life that we fail to grasp God's wonders of old, his holiness and unique power? Have we been so focused on what ails us, what displeases and disappoints us, that we fail to fix our gaze on the Lord who sits enthroned in the heavens, who has the earth as His footstool? This psalm reminded (and rebuked) me for all the times I did not conquer my heart with the Sword of Truth I have been blessed with, for all the times I listened to my heart's groaning rather than preach to it the wonderful words of life. If you wish to read the whole psalm (and you don't have your Bibles--but why?), click here.
March 18, Wednesday - Day 4
This one, I have no link to which I could redirect you. It has been a personal practice since last year to keep my notebook and pen (and, later on because of tendonitis, my Notes on the phone) open and ready when our men in the church lead us in prayer during our prayer meetings.* Whenever I hear a line that resonates with me, I would type/write it down. As a visual and kinesthetic learner, this does not only help me to listen more carefully to what they say in prayer. but it also keeps my heart in tune with the burdens being prayed for. (I am more than grateful for the SGC men who, by grace, truly lead the congregation to be prayerful, but that's for another blog post.) So when we were praying virtually via Zoom, it was Kuya Charles' prayer that best expressed/summarized my heart's burden. Abba also mentioned during the prayer meeting that this trying time will reveal the hearts of those who profess the faith--if they are cold, they will grow even colder, but if their hearts burn with love for God and for His people, it would do nothing less but grow even warmer within them.
*Note: People may easily be distracted with you writing on your journal, or typing on your phone during prayer. It may even distract you and tempt you to do something else aside from intently listening to the men as they pray! If you wish to do the same, please be considerate of the people next to you, and check your own heart as well. I usually sit alone at the last row in church and would put my phone in flight mode and zero brightness during prayer--just to be safe.
March 19, Thursday - Day 5
This broadcast was aired last Tuesday, but I went back to it a couple of days ago. As Abba's preachings always accomplish, this sermon is a rod and a balm at once for His people. We have been warned time and again by the Scripture that days of tribulation will come, and are now here. We are told many times to "hold everything earthly with a loose hand." But does our heart respond biblically to the sudden changes to which we are subjected? This sermon reminded me that when everything else is stripped bare of all its forms, what remains between me and my God is the substance of my heart. To listen to this sermon in full, click here.
March 20, Friday - Day 6
Thanks to Scribd, the whole world now has access to all of their books for the next 30 days--free of charge. Readers--and audiobook listeners!--celebrate worldwide for this generosity. And last night, I have been sent a book recommendation (which would be further discussed on Day 7 highlight) with this quote from one of Cowper's classic hymns. Aside from the Scripture, it is also beneficial for our souls to listen and meditate on the hymns that we have sung through the years. These hymns, written by great men of faith, speak volumes of truth that would do our souls good and would "tune [our] hearts to sing [God's] praise." This hymn has always been a personal favorite, but its truth resonates to me even louder now, when there are very obvious dark clouds looming overhead. To listen to the hymn tune and read the lyrics, visit this link.
March 21, Saturday - Day 7
I won't be able to give a summary-like description to this book yet because I just started reading it today. Hopefully, though, before Scribd's 30-day free unlimited access is over, I'd get to finish reading this material and several others. But the theme that book touches is very relevant to us. Alistair Begg's The Hand of God is a book that explores various stories from the Bible that displays God's sovereign will and work in the lives of men. The first chapter is about Joseph and how, despite his dysfunctional family setup (what the Jacob-Laban strife, the Leah-Rachel strife, and even the conflicts with his brothers!), he was sovereignly used by God to bring about His greater purpose for Israel. As early as now, this book is a strong reminder for me to not base my expectations of the future on the past that I had to go through or even the present that I need to deal with. Instead, it is vital that we recognize the work of grace active in us, as God's people, and for us to trust Him to shape us into being more Christlike through the actions we deliberately take in obedience to Him.
That's my first week of quarantine. How about you? What has filled your mind for the past seven days?
P.S. Sorry for the uneven calligraphy strokes. My right wrist is still not fully recovered.
Comments
Post a Comment