Living Christ in Covid Quarantine

It was 2am in France when I was startled awake by my phone exploding with text messages. I rolled over to silence it when I noticed what they were about. Trump had issued a travel ban from Europe, effective in 2 days. I checked my inbox knowing what I would find—the “EVERYONE GET BACK HERE ASAP” email from UT’s study abroad office.

My study abroad that I had spent over a semester planning and saving for was over. Just like that. And in a few days time, I found myself back where I started. Two weeks earlier, I was wandering the streets of Paris, eating crème brûlée at a restaurant overlooking Notre Dame. Now, I chill on my recliner watching endless TikToks in a suburb of Dallas that is literally boring when everything IS up and running.

Okay, despite my drama, I am thankful to be home and safe. Cancelled study abroad is a total first world problem, but I think my experience speaks to everyone right now in some way. A lot of things that are important to us have been SNATCHED in a whirlwind of, like, two weeks time. My brother’s HS senior year is trashed, friends’ hard-earned internships are cancelled, weddings prohibited, businesses closing—outwardly, everything is falling apart. BUT, my goal is not to draw attention to our anxiety-inducing situation, as you are all aware of it.

What we see on the news, on facebook, in our inbox, is our world crumbling. What we can’t see—at least not physically—is what the Lord is building amid the ruins. That is what I want to draw attention to.

Initially, I thought the coronavirus would slow the Lord’s work because it prevents believers from physically gathering, but I was wrong. Despite the church’s fervent prayers, the Lord has allowed it to spread.

Conformed to His image

Covid-19 didn’t catch God off guard, and it can’t slow Him. He has allowed this in His sovereign arrangement to obtain His goal. The Lord’s goal is to dispense Himself into us—to conform us to His image, to the point that we are literally living Christ.

Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers. –Rom. 8:29

I heard this truth one time and it really stuck with me: God is more concerned with who we are than what we do. If I’m being honest, of course it upsets me when the Lord allows things I care about to be taken away from me. But the truth is, everything that has been taken is worthless compared to knowing Him, and maybe it takes a situation as extreme as this for us to see that.

But moreover I also count all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse that I may gain Christ. –Phil. 3:8

If we come out of this with more Christ, then these days, weeks, months, that are seemingly a waste of our lives, are infinitely valuable. At the end of this quarantine, it won’t matter how many chapters of the Bible you read, if you turned on Solid Ground every Thursday night, Zoomed into all your home meetings (Sidenote: Did anybody even know what Zoom was before all this?… I definitely did not). While we absolutely should do all of those things, what’s infinitely more important is this: did you gain Christ?

I don’t love when people say vague stuff like “gain Christ” without explanation, so let me break this down. We are vessels made to contain God, but right now we are mostly full of ourselves. When I say “ourselves” I mean our souls—our mind, emotions, and will. Instead of living and expressing Christ, we naturally live and express ourselves.

Take a knock-off Hydro Flask as an example of a vessel (I’m using a knock-off in this analogy only because I’m not boujee enough to buy a real one). Let’s say it’s filled with old water. If I want it to contain new water, I’ll have to open the knock-off Hydro Flask, empty the gross water, then fill it with new water. In the same way, in order to gain Christ, we have to open our being to Him, empty ourselves, and allow Him to fill us up.

Opening

When we say we want someone to be “open” with us, this means we want them to communicate and be honest. That’s how we should be with the Lord, except take it to the extreme because He wants us to talk to Him about everything—He cares.

Casting all your anxiety on Him because it matters to Him concerning you. –1 Pet. 5:7

We have all had a lot on our minds with the uncertainty that Covid-19 brought into our lives. Have you talked to the Lord about it? I mean actually. Not just thought about it (I often make this mistake). Tell Him what you are thinking and feeling, even if you’re mad at Him. He already knows, so it’s not gonna offend Him. Remaining open to the Lord is the only way to let Him in. He’s not gonna force Himself on us.

Emptying and Being Filled

I think these next parts are a key that I wasn’t grasping before. Talking to the Lord is great, but that doesn’t change us. We actually need to be saved from ourselves and our own thoughts and feelings.

What’s occupying your mind? School, family, finances? Or, what’s making you happy, but maybe keeping you from the Lord? Tell Him. Then, let it go. Empty yourself.

I’m good at complaining to the Lord, but I’m not great at listening. Actually ask the Lord what He thinks. How He feels about it. Tell God that you want Him to be the most important thing in your life and that nothing else matters. Give Him your thoughts, feelings, and will, and ask Him to fill you with His. Then, His divine attributes expressed in His human virtues will be lived out in you.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. –Phil. 2:5

For the Body

While all of this may sound individual, it actually has to do with the Body. The Body of Christ is a corporate expression. When we live Christ, we all live the same person instead of living as individual people. Christ is experienced, enjoyed, and expressed to the fullest in His Body. Praise the Lord, that He arranges every situation that we may gain and enjoy Him!

So in this time of outward loss, let us be found enjoying and living Christ for the building of His Body in order that Christ may gain His expression on the earth. If that’s the result of this quarantine, then to me, it’s totally worth it.

By: Karen Joseph