Open my eyes that I may see……Psalm 119:18
I will lift up my eyes to the hills…. Psalm 121:1
But my eyes are fixed on You…. Psalm 141:8
Open your eyes and look at the fields……John 4:35

The news is unrelenting. In a seemingly short amount of time, businesses have closed. Churches, universities, and schools have ceased to function in ways we have grown accustomed. Children and adult kids have returned from the life that they knew. Most in the United States are under shelter-in-place orders. This COVID-19 has reared its ugly head invisibly, yet, oh so visibly. We have seen its plunder. Countless lives lost. Unimaginable suffering and pain. A world, quite possibly, changed forever. Yet with this insurmountable attack, we must acknowledge that these circumstances have unmistakably grabbed our attention. The idols of our hearts and the props of our lives have been radically exposed as a global community; however, this time also has graciously delivered each one of us a reality check. The truth is that I would rather engage in the distraction of business than to calm my heart and listen to the One Who longs to draw near to my weary, bruised soul. Instead of collapsing in the all-sufficiency of the Lord Jesus, I find myself dreaming of the days where human beings return to hugging, sharing a meal, or quite simply just being in the world and reflecting His love.

In the counseling office, the therapist holds space for those struggling to have a secure foundation. Could it be that we have been given space to inspect our personal footings? Indeed, these challenging times can paralyze us into not reflecting individually and also can retraumatize us in the specific pains of our own narratives. With the framework of our current situation, though, let’s evaluate our perspective and paradigm as Jesus calls us to a fresh surrender.

Perspective, according to Webster is “the capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance.” Our individual perspective challenges our belief system; our beliefs overflow from our heart. My perspective shift came in 2010 when I suffered lung collapses with unknown etiology. The months of grueling lung pain and the fears of the unknown were my wake-up calls. Would I continue to operate under the guise of performance? Would I continue to be defined by what I accomplished or by what God says about me? Would I trust His heart for me, knowing that I had no control with the outcome? Although my heart had been redeemed, Jesus knew I desperately needed a much-needed reset. A reset of trust. A reset of surrender. A reset to know that I am His beloved; that He never changes; that He never, ever will abandon me; and that He is always good.

For some reason, God has repeatedly used the vehicle of a medical crisis to force our family into this space. Whether it was the devastation of an eighteen-year-old son diagnosed with Stage 4, Hodgkin’s Lymphoma or the complications of pneumonia or surgeries, God allowed the pain. As C.S. Lewis states, “Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasure, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Suffering allows us a reset.

Because I firmly believe that God does not waste our suffering, I challenge you to evaluate your life paradigm as we, individually and corporately, move into this next season. Just as Peter was beckoned out of the boat to trust, just as Paul was beckoned into conversion, and as the Samaritan lady was beckoned out of her lifestyle, to what is God beckoning you?

Paul Miller was beckoned out of being comfortable to prayer as his family adjusted to an autistic daughter. Katie Davis Majors was called out of conformity with the world to a life of adopting thirteen African girls. Toby Mac and Steven Curtis Chapman were called to trust God’s heart as they each grieved the loss of a child. John Newton was beckoned out of the slave trade and into a life reflecting amazing grace. Martin Lloyd Jones was called out of the medical profession and into a life of preaching the gospel. The aforementioned folks are simply a few examples of lives radically changed by the paradigm of surrender and grace.

In light of the crisis at hand, I humbly invite you to wrestle with your perspective, the lens through which you view your story in light of His story of redemption. While filtering out the anxiety, fear, and uncertainty, let’s examine our foundational paradigm. Are we willing to trust that He has us, that we need not fear, and that most importantly, He meets us exactly where we are? There is no shame. No judgment. No guilt. Just surrender.

Jesus never promises us that we will not suffer; yet, He promises us His Presence.

For each of you reading these words, I pray that God speaks directly to you. Heed His prompting; and let’s move deeper into this gospel of grace so that lives will be changed.