This morning I was thinking about all the the normal things that have been disrupted in our world. Churches and schools are closed, businesses are closed and grocery stores shelves are bare of basic items. A term that I have never heard is said constantly, “social distancing”. A virus is upon us and our normal is on hold. However, is this disruption all bad? While I am not at all discounting the threat of this sickness, I do think we need to not give into fear. Standing with eyes fixed on Jesus allows us to see the good in this disruption.

I am reminded of the stories though the New Testament when Jesus entered a town. If large crowds were gathering and social distancing was discouraged, life was not going on as normal when we came to town. People were flocking to Jesus to be taught, to be healed and to receive eternal life. They would remain gathered for days in His presence. Life as they knew it, outside the presence of Christ, came to a stop. I imagine tools left unused in carpenter’s shops. Whatever form of school they had was dismissed because The Teacher was in town. Doctors of the day were not called upon because the Great Physician was here. Those who had lived a life of sin and felt dead, came to the Source of Life and found forgiveness, they became fully alive. I have to think that these desperate, bound by the law, people were more concerned about who was in their presence than what was being disrupted.

What if we took this time and did the same? What if we took this disruption of our normal and sought the presence of Jesus? What if we open our Bibles more and learned from Him? What if we gathered around our tables and caught up with one another? What if we opened our pantry’s, took stock of what we had and then asked the Lord to multiply it to feed anyone who was hungry? What if we called each other and prayed for one another? What if we pulled our family close, read scripture, sang together and prayed together? I would have to believe that we will not be as eager to return to normal when all of this is over. Yes, good can come out of this disruption if we allow it.

I will say that most of this is normal in our home, but we are taking advantage of the disruption. For our family, we have extended our times around the table and laughed a lot. The other night we each came up with 3 questions about ourselves to ask to see who knew us best. When it was my turn, I asked everyone what I had wanted to be when I grew up. Their responses were great! They went anywhere from singer, lawyer, writer to “one of those ladies who wears black and white and preaches”. We laughed a lot and finally the answer was given… a mom. I pray our kids make good memories during this slower time.

Another thing that I discovered this morning was a word I do not usually take note of. The word was “interlude”. It was included in the verse, “For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory. Interlude.” (Psalm 32:7). I had to look up the word for more understanding because I knew it was important to take note of. It was defined as a pause, between and an intervening period of time according to the search on Google. Are we not in an interlude, my friends? For those of us who have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection and are now saved, are we not waiting to go Home? Our life is held in waiting, but not at all inactive. For there is much living to be done now, even in the midst of disruption.

In our interlude and disruption, may we each find Him to be the perfect hiding place and place of protection. May we all be quiet enough and cease complaining to hear Him singing over us with songs of victory. Perhaps when normal returns, the new routines that we found in the pause will be carried over and our lives richer. While we may be kept from large gatherings now, maybe the long awaited gathering in Heaven will have even more souls because of the salvations that come during this time. Yes, there is good to be found in the pause. For beautiful music always has a pause written amongst the notes to be played. May our pause bring Him much glory.