Corona Lockdown – Simplicity is Key
Life as we know it is now very different. Thankfully technology is helping many stay connected, and all kinds of new ways of connecting are being tried. Yet our technology options can also bombard us with clutter! During this Corona Lockdown season we would do well to discover that Simplicity is Key
So firstly let us purposefully and intentionally throttle it! The Discipline of OFF applies now more than ever – deciding to turn off the tech for a while, not join every video call or stream on offer, not attempting to read every blog post or download every resource. It’s not that these are bad – it’s that we only need a certain number of them. So be strategic – find the few that work and throttle the rest. God may well be in the simple quiet whisper, rather than the live stream or the funky Zoom call!
Don’t trade a plethora of content & options for your own simple-yet-rich quiet times with God, times where He can whisper into your soul.
Be wise in who you try and do calls with. Yes absolutely contact different people (we can be church by being a diverse web of connections between us), but pace yourself and don’t overload. The habit of Share the Walk is about quality sharing, not splitting yourself into an infinite number of tiny pieces!
Remember that quietly praying for someone else in the church can be incredibly effective. The church ‘prayer diary’ is a great tool for this.
Your discipleship matters, it is mission critical, and in reality no one can do it for you! So it is down to you to seek to be Ever Closer to Jesus. That’s why those times in quiet prayer, calling on God, and praying for others are so crucial. There are good resources online that can help, but they can only help, it is still down to you!
The closer we are to Jesus, the more Jesus-like we become, and the more Kingdom activity we are likely to see in life around us.
By consciously throttling and limiting, deliberately being strategic in what we browse to and connect in with, we create Margin for Jesus. That’s the space left for Jesus to fill. Maybe He won’t fill it (simply giving you space), or maybe it will open up a God-appointed ministry opportunity. If you fill all your time with ‘stuff’, then you will never know!
Fill all your time with tech-provided content equals zero margin for Jesus! Be more strategic than that.
Do keep a journal – jot down your feelings, what you sense in prayer, and things that happen (good or bad). Look back on them, share with your prayer partner – use them for learning. Also do use this season to pay attention to your spirituality as a family. If you have children at home, find simple ways to include them. For example set a time once a day to pray together (even just giving thanks before a meal), or re-enact one of the stories of Jesus. This lockdown season may be your best opportunity yet!
As a church we encourage everyone to have a prayer partner (or be in a triplet). We also encourage small groups – and are encouraging people to use tech to make these happen (groups, IPODs, impromptu gatherings) at sensible frequencies. We are also looking at doing a whole church online gathering for Easter. Yet we also believe that Simplicity is Key – to pursue a simple-yet-rich spiritual life through this time, and profit greatly from it.