The Gift Hidden Inside a Global Crisis
by Lori Stanley Roeleveld
Many times, I have thought my life unimportant – not as a form of self-pity, but more as an excuse. This fallacy that I don’t matter, that I’m insignificant, is a convenient delusion to comfort me when I’m tired of trying, of doing what is right, of attempting the impossible in the name of Jesus.Then, along came the microscopic virus that shut down, not only the world, but also any illusion I harbored that I’m too small to make an impact. You and I have the potential to be viral in scope – no matter how we feel. Our greatest challenge is not that our lives don’t matter – it’s that they do. Not that we are insignificant, but that our significance is hidden from us. Not only does the pandemic pull the curtain back on this, so does the gospel.Jesus was God but He came into the world hundreds of years before social media and took on human form – one man. His disciples could barely agree on how to secure lunch prior to the cross, but after the cross, as witnesses of the resurrection, they went viral – a person-to-person transmission of truth so life-altering it divided time.Peter, James, John, Paul, Mary, and the rest could not have imagined the scope of their testimonies, but I don’t get the impression from the New Testament that they wasted much time fretting over it.They devoted their lives to telling others the truth they knew. They lived so that the Holy Spirit had free reign to work through them, and every person they touched made a choice to accept that truth or reject it. And here we are.Throughout Scripture, God tells us He knew us before we were formed. He is mindful of us. He knows our thoughts and searches our hearts. He knows each sparrow so why would He not know how many hairs we have on our heads? Further, He designed us for and assigned us to these times as Paul said in Acts 17:26-27 ESV “And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.”Our Father assigned us to this time of global shutdown and truly there was a gift of revelation in that. Each of us is so potent in Christ that our enemy has had to flood the air with a great deception that we don’t matter. This pandemic reminds us that we do.From the most powerful world leader to the homeless beggar who has forgotten her own name, we have the same potential to pass on what we carry within us – sickness, cynicism, fear, doubt, corruption, evil, and death or health, hope, life, light, love, and the truth – the gospel of Jesus Christ.God, in His mercy, and us, if we’re paying attention, can transform this moment of global panic into the greatest resurgence of faith the world has ever seen. The only question is this – will we choose the comfort of the convenient delusion or will we choose the courage to go viral with the gospel?
Because we can no longer deny that we can.
Lori Stanley Roeleveld is an author, speaker, and disturber of hobbits who enjoys making comfortable Christians late for dinner. She’s authored four encouraging, unsettling books. Running from a Crazy Man(and other adventures traveling with Jesus) is a finalist for Christian Book of the Decade. Her latest release is The Art of Hard Conversations: Biblical Tools for the Tough Talks that Matter. She speaks her mind at https://www.loriroeleveld.com.Lori is also one of our featured speakers in the by design Speakers Directory. If you are looking for a Christian speaker for your special event, please visit our online directory or contact us to request a hard copy.