Hope at times makes no sense, and we tell ourselves to not keep our hopes high so that we won’t be disappointed later, and I read one of my friends IG story asking “What does ‘This too shall pass’ mean anymore?” This is definitely one of the greatest testing time of our lives, we dread the news each day, I hate looking at my phone every morning for the fear of more “not so great news”, and I dread the times when the phone rings unexpectedly. Ironically, to our human eyes when we look for a justification for “This too shall pass”, all we see is more cases around us, or us coming into direct contact with a Covid positive unknowingly, or family members being tested, close ones and acquaintances dying, news of possible floods as if a pandemic wasn’t enough.. As if that wasn’t enough, of riots, explosions and plane crashes? All like an icing on the cake of 2020!
What does Hope even mean anymore to us?
The day I realized I might have almost come in contact with Covid-19 (because I almost did), I was very shaken. I didn’t come into direct contact but I was very close, it was such a close call and the following morning I was pretty shaken. Two things encouraged me then – one, was a voice note that I kept listening to over and over again, from an older friend who has seen me grow as a child and it said, “My child, do you think there is anything that has come to you that hasn’t already passed The Almighty?” From that voice note, this stuck, it stuck to my fears when I woke up at 3 AM, trembling. I listened to this and I knew God was in control. There is nothing that has happened in my life till date that felt out of place later.
Two, was my dad, my loving “Appa”. He is a man of great faith and has been our rock in all the testing times of our lives, and on our regular days as well. He calls each of us every morning to pray over the phone (this wasn’t well appreciated before, but off-late I wait for his call). On this particular day he asked me this – ‘What is the need for security? Is it felt in the absence of danger?’, and that got me thinking, I am safe in Gods arms. I know it sounds like a cliché now, it even sounds seasoned, something our hardened hearts hear so much and it just bounces right off like the fastest spring on earth. But for me, almost coming into contact with a Covid positive patient was what softened my heart towards Gods word. I felt vulnerable, like there was nothing else in my control. And as I write this I feel there was a purpose to all of it, because this is me writing for this page after almost a year, if not for these events that preceded I wouldn’t be writing.
It is difficult to go through what we are going, so I am going to list a few points that helped me-
- Be kind to yourself.
- Its okay to feel like your mind is blocked. God still loves you.
- Remember God defined boundaries for whatever you do.
I’m not going to overload your brains with more points, but I want you to remember hope. And I hope for us to be kind to ourselves and those around us, and not freak out at every sneeze or cough. Try to look less into the media unless of course you work in the media or have to make major political decisions to make. Listen to some good music that helps you to hold on to faith, hope and love. I’m currently listening to Don Moen. I am filled with love for you for making it to the end of this post, and don’t forget Jesus loves you so very much.
Faith. Hope. Love. Movement 