Have you ever wondered why you are blanketed by a spirit of heaviness? The anxiety that has surfaced from this COVID-19 pandemic can paralyze the most able-bodied, upwardly mobile person in any given region. This particular season of quarantine has forced many of us to reflect on the direction that our lives are heading. Some of you are facing economic turmoil through the loss of employment. Many church leaders have been forced to close their sanctuaries and restrict all forms of public worship. We've all had to eliminate certain facets of our lives to comply with the mandates of social distancing practices. These circumstances have truly ruptured our confidence in what used to be the norm.
I find myself reflecting on my life within the span of the last twenty years. I think about my time as a young college student trying to navigate into the unknown world of adulthood, making a few mistakes along the way. I can vividly remember certain situations where I got caught up in idle conversation while criticizing everything and everyone around me. My destructive conversation hurt many people and isolated me from some potentially wonderful friendships. Even to this day, I sometimes wrestle with the notion that I've limited my potential due to condemning nature of some of my word choices and actions. More crippling than the effects of COVID-19, the burden of fulfilling our identity can keep us pinned in a torture chamber.
When I find myself dwelling on the notion of what could have been, I start meditating on Romans 8:1 which reminds us that there is NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ Jesus. There is one critical portion of this verse that we often overlook. In order to be released of this condemnation, we have to walk according to His Spirit. I realize that in my moments of extensive criticism, I resorted to my own frustration in trying to resolve a situation. When I fail to seek Lord's consultation on how to approach my day, I readily become absorbed in cynicism and self-righteous antics to help me cope with anxiety. Every time we do things in our own strength, we will become imprisoned by our indiscretions. Jesus Christ is the only one that has provided the perfect blueprint of redemption through spoken word. He never approaches us with the notion to prove us wrong or hammer us with rebuke, but rather provides an expression of hope to free us from the past.
Thank God that He has granted us the gift of Jesus Christ to redeem us from our mishaps. In one simple act of repentance, we can redeem ten years worth of shame within one ten minute petition to Jesus, acknowledging that we need His grace.
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