When Your Whole World Changes - COVID-19 Special EditionSample

Feeling Stuck

I keep thinking about everything that has happened since people started becoming ill; the grief of the families whose loved ones have died, the sacrifices of health care workers and others who are trying to save people, the people  who have lost their jobs and can’t buy food or pay for their home. 

I want to help, but I feel like I’m stuck in a nightmare.

The pain and losses of COVID-19 are very real and will have a significant impact on each of us. It’s good to grieve the losses and to care about the suffering and needs of the people around us. But if we allow the feelings of loss and anxiety about our present to overwhelm us, we may feel trapped and anxious. We may lose hope for a better tomorrow.

Jesus offers another option. He taught his disciples how to live without becoming overwhelmed by worry when they were in difficult circumstances and how to focus their thoughts in a better direction.

“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Matthew 6:31–33

From that perspective, Jesus taught them how to pray about living while seeking God’s kingdom.

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.

Matthew 6:9–13

No matter how bad our circumstances are, God wants us to be His partners in doing His will on earth. 

Think about one thing that can you focus on today that will help you move from having paralyzing thoughts to living in the love, goodness, and hope of God’s kingdom on Earth.