Last week, I shared the first way I believe God is bringing a greater good out of this crisis—by calling us back to a more balanced way of life. This week, I’ll share the other two ways.
Second, the most devastating effects of this crisis have been on people’s health and finances. But not far behind, the next most devastating effect has been the social isolation it’s imposed on us. And this social isolation has, by far, affected the largest number of people—nearly all of us, even those whose health and finances have been unaffected. This isolation has been especially difficult for those who live alone and have no family close by.
Who isn’t sick of having to be six feet apart? Who doesn’t want to see other people’s faces and smile at each other, NOT through masks? Who doesn’t want to be able to hug their friends and loved ones?
We don’t just crave this kind of close, personal contact. We desperately need it. It’s necessary for our health. During a recent TV interview, Dr. Phil outlined the devastating psychological effects this social isolation is having on us, especially those who already struggle with depression, loneliness, and anxiety. He also outlined the ensuing physical health effects all this will have and emphasized that, if this goes on much longer, we risk having more people die from the effects of social isolation than from COVID-19!
In all this, technology has been a Godsend. It’s kept us connected. What would we ever have done without it?
But if there’s one thing this crisis has made us acutely aware of it’s that connecting through technology isn’t enough. Not anywhere close. For both our psychological and physical health, we desperately need real, in person connection.
For a long time now, the ever-accelerating advances in our technology—as beneficial as they are—have been slowly eroding this real, personal interaction. And this is precisely where this crisis is giving us a great gift. It’s been a stark reminder of how essential this kind of real, personal connection is. It’s been a stark reminder to not let this erosion continue—an erosion that was already having similar psychological and physical effects, but in a far less dramatic and, therefore, noticeable way.
I believe that another greater good God is using this crisis to bring about is getting us to honor and cherish this kind of connection more than we honor and cherish our technology.
Third, probably the hardest thing about this crisis for all of us is how vulnerable it’s made us feel. The illusion that we are self-sufficient; the illusion that we have control over our lives; the illusion that we determine our destiny has been completely shattered. We’ve had to face our mortality and realize that this life won’t last forever.
But this too has been a great gift. For one thing, whether we like it or not, it’s true. It’s always been true. It was just easier to avoid it. Facing this truth puts things in perspective. It forces us to get our priorities straight and live each day fully. I’ll bet you’ve done a lot more reflecting about your life than you did before this all started. And since many people haven’t been able to work or occupy themselves with all the other pursuits they had before, there’s been a lot more time for reflection—if we don’t run away from it.
This may be the greatest gift of all coming out of this crisis—the time and solitude it is affording many of us. Having to face ourselves, to think deeply about our lives, about life itself, the big questions of existence, may be the best thing for us. In our hectic, technology-obsessed culture, we barely have a moment to be alone with our own thoughts. We crowd out the silence with a constant stream of “noise”. But we’ve been forced to slow down. We’ve been forced to think about the ultimate questions, like death and our place in the big scheme of things.
If there really is a God who created us for relationship with Him; if He put us on earth so we can freely choose whether to respond to his love, or not, then there is nothing more important or urgent than considering our eternal destiny. This is a golden opportunity to respond to Him, to accept His gift of eternal life, to focus more intensely on your relationship with Him, the only thing that does last for eternity.
I believe this is the greatest good God wants to bring out of this crisis—to draw people to Himself. In fact, a relationship with Him is the greatest possible good that could come out of this crisis, now and forevermore!
Is a relationship with God the greatest good that can come out of this crisis? Go to the “Contact E.J.” page of the Raising Jesus website let me know what you think. I’d love to hear from you! May the Risen Lord Jesus, who turned the cross into the unimaginably greater glory of resurrection transform all you’re going through in this crisis into an unimaginably greater good, now and forevermore.
