Five Vault-Worthy Treasures to Secure From 2020
I’m clinging mightily right now to the old adage “out with the old, in with the new” in these final December days. I may stay up after midnight not merely to greet the new year but to kick out the old one for good. But this year hasn’t solely amounted to a disagreeable lump of coal. I’m now making a different list and checking it twice. Here’s my gift of insight to you: Five Vault-Worthy Treasures to Secure from 2020
Increased Patience and Flexibility
To be sure, we live in an instantaneous culture. Instant answers, espresso in express time, and prepared food in minutes readily reflect this predisposition. But during the current COVID crisis, most errands take longer. Wait times for many things increased substantially. We expect long lines outside stores and service centers
Here’s my true confession: I hate lines. In fact, I detest them so much that I sometimes made poor decisions so I wouldn’t have to stand in them. I once took a less popular art history course to avoid a notorious line at my university. I even neglected to pick up one of my college yearbooks back in the day because of long lines. My Uggs never enter stores like Costco due to extensive queues this close to Christmas.
But these days, I’m more amenable to lines. COVID broke me in like a stubborn horse. And in addition, I’m also recognizing the personal cost of impatience. A rapid heart rate and potentially higher blood pressure represent two end results of an impatient spirit. The possibility of losing your temper and snapping at someone further stir the pot, making a descent into impatience an unworthy choice indeed. The increased aggravation that results is better left unexplored. “Be patient with everyone,” we read in 1 Thessalonians 5:14. Paul offers some great insight worth taking in that passage.
The “everyone” Paul refers to includes people you don’t know with whom you come in contact with in all transactions during COVID-19. It includes the sales clerk, drive-thru employee, postmasters, and similar personnel. When we give them grace, God assures us that we too will receive it in our own time of need. (Hebrews 4:16) I don’t know about you, but I happily stockpile a bit of grace I might need by dispensing it whenever possible in these uncertain times.
Reconfigured Priorities
My priorities dramatically shifted this year. In fact, they’ve changed dramatically. I remember as a young mother I drafted a mini checklist. I penned timetables for newspaper completion, hot coffee consumption, and personal grooming goals achievements. But today, my goals center around ministry action steps and making sure friends and family feel loved and appreciated. I know that sounds corny. But honestly, I don’t care if it does! I’m being honest about the shift in what’s important to me and that involves caring less about what others think as well. It’s a liberating place to be. If you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend it!
A stack of leftover newspapers from a few days ago sits on my desk at this moment. But I’m caught up on my devotions! My compass points in the right direction every morning. My heart is right with God even if I don’t sport the latest fashions. Instead, I pour into those He’s put in my sphere of influence. “Fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” (Hebrews 12:2.) It feels good to redirect my gaze as He instructs. Even if the coffee is cold or sometimes unconsumed altogether.
Streamlined Allegiances
As a recovering people pleaser, I also came to terms with some alliances that needed pruning. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:23 that we “have the right to do anything, but not everything is beneficial.” I spent significant lockdown time pondering beneficial things. And non-beneficial things and even people. When I sat still before Him, He opened my eyes to some things. Not gonna deny it, that was painful! But pruning branches is painful for the grapevines, too. But we can trust our Master Gardener to do what He feels is best.
With a right heart attitude toward those God calls me to love, I now focus on who He places in my life. And I accept His pruning regarding those He has not. What a wonderful comfort it is to know that we can trust Him to do that as we find freedom in following His leading!
A Heightened Awareness of Enemy Schemes
Another revelation for me in the pandemic involves Satan’s adversarial opposition. For most of my life, it’s fair to say I turned a blind eye to many of those slings and arrows. I not only failed to recognize them, I neglected to take preventive measures before damage was done. My eyes are open now. I understand like never before the importance of putting on the armor of God outlined in Ephesians 6:10-18.
A deep communion with God resulted as I confessed my wrongdoings in a posture of deepened humility. I believe being alone with Him more contributed to this newfound intensity. The unsettled nature of the pandemic magnified the deep longing I felt within the recesses of my soul. In the stillness of all that wasn’t, I was able to marvel in and rejoice over all that was! God is, was, and always will be my “enough.”
Deepened Dependence on God
When all is stripped away in our self-curated little worlds, we more easily recognize the flimsiness of things once leaned on. The cardboard walls that once looked so strong and solid to us collapse before our eyes. Even some good things we rely on daily suddenly could not be enjoyed or counted on. In this hurricane. I found myself gravitating to its eye. And there God waits, in the midst of our chaos. He listens to our heartfelt petitions and our desperate outcries. He is “close to the brokenhearted” as He “binds up our wounds and heals them.” (Psalm 34:18)
In this peaceful eye of the hurricane of our world, we experience God in a fresh, powerful way. He really becomes our all in all. I love how writer Dennis Jernigan puts it in the familiar praise hymn, “You Are My All in All.” He says, “When I fall down you pick me up/When I run dry you fill my cup/You are my all in all. Jernigan talks about seeking God like he would a “precious jewel” and that to give up such a pursuit would be foolish.
End of Year Challenge
Even now as I read those words, I ask myself a hard question: Am I appropriately desperate for God at the deepest level possible? Or am I satisfied with scratching the surface? I don’t want to be a surface anything. Right now we want deep cleaning. We want deepened interactions of all types. And focusing on what matters most is more crucial now to me than it’s ever been.
Join me moving forward in diving deep for the elusive proverbial pearls that matter most. Accompany me as we safely secure these vault-worthy treasures from 2020. Let’s move into the new year with a newfound courage and unbridled confidence as we strive to make a difference in our unsettled world.
Cindy‘s final installment in the three devotion trilogy is now available on Amazon in Kindle or paperback format!
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