From Quarantined Days to Character Building Days | A Guest Post by Juli Anna Stanford
I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of living through a historical event. I was in the middle of the second semester of my Sophomore year at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville when classes were moved online. I had the best roommates, I’d found a church home away from home, I had plenty of babysitting opportunities, and most importantly- I only lived seven minutes away from five of my favorite coffee shops. But then I realized that this little virus that started in East Asia was making its way around the world and into my life.
Some people say college is the best four years of your life. I don’t know if I agree with this, but I can tell you that since moving across the state of Tennessee almost two years ago, God has taught me so much and His Grace has called me into bigger and better things than I could have ever imagined. I have grown a lot since high school- the girl writing this blog is not the same girl who lived in Memphis 2 years ago. Transitioning to living at home under quarantine has been challenging to say the least.
I would be lying if I said I haven’t sat in bitterness some days. I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve spent many hours scrolling through social media sitting in self-pity of MY college years being taken away. But this is because I struggle with seeing how things that happen around me impact not just myself, but the world around me. I forget in my selfishness, that God is not a God of failure. He is not a God of pity. He is a God of Joy. How can we find joy in the midst of a pandemic? Let’s look to scripture to see what God has to say!
I’ve been spending time in Romans over the last few days and I want to share with you something that really stood out to me:
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.
And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s live has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” -Romans 5:1-5
I want to break these verses down in light of what’s been happening in our world over the last few weeks in order to see how we can possibly find joy in struggles.
Verses one and two are truly the rock that we as believers stand on. We have justification through faith in Christ. Our sin is no longer what God sees when He looks down on His broken creation. If you are in Christ, He looks at you and He sees Jesus. This is a game changer. The second part of verse two gives me chills. “And we boast in the hope of the Glory of God”. What does this have to do with a pandemic? Well, I want you to read these two verses again. What part of that is contingent on our leaving the house? What part of that doesn’t apply to a social distanced you? Our justification- our salvation found only in Christ- stands, no matter what earthly circumstances arise.
Verses three and four make no earthly since. How on earth can anything good come of suffering? Nothing on earth can, but in the Kingdom of God, nothing is without use. Social distancing is causing our hearts to suffer. We are a people made for community, and we can’t get it like we used to. How on earth can God make this kind of suffering turn into glory? Let’s read on.
Paul says suffering produces perseverance. I don’t know about y’all but the first two weeks of social distancing were the longest two weeks of my life. The past two months of social distancing have felt like weeks. The endurance that God has granted me and you, has resulted in a perseverance to survive the most unlikely of circumstances. I want you to ask yourself, could you have stayed at home (or gone to work under these conditions if you’re an essential worker) a year ago like you did now? I’m going to guess probably not. That’s because God has used your suffering (social suffering) to build up perseverance. And Paul tells us here that this perseverance we’re building is resulting in character building. I believe that when he talks about character building, he’s referring to sanctification- a fancy word that theologians (those who study God’s Word) use to describe the process of Jesus calling us closer to his heart, and in doing this, makes our hearts more like His.
My friend, your character is being built. God is molding your heart to be more like this. Social distancing does not stop God. He is using every ounce of your life to point you towards Him.
Paul then tells us that character produces Hope. This hope, he says in verse 5 is something we are not to be ashamed of, rather we can boast in it, because it is of the Holy Spirit.
You know what else comes from the Holy spirit?
Joy.
The crazy thing about Jesus is that He can somehow redeem even the most broken places in our hearts and our world. His Grace covers our slip ups. His grace covers our selfish desires. His Grace covers our self-pity. In fact, He calls us out of our own perspectives of self-pity and into His Kingdom. He is showing us that no circumstance is outside of His ability to build our character and strengthen our hope in Him.
After spending time in Romans 5, I realized I needed an internal culture change. I realized it’s ok to feel upset and frustrated by my circumstances, but it’s not good enough to sit in them and let them consume my view. I have to look to God who then puts my emotions and my circumstances into perspective. He is using this time of uncertainty and chaos to build my character, and yours too! We have to put our trust in Him and our Hope in the promise that He is making us new every day- especially the days spent in chaos! We can have great joy in this Hope we have in Jesus.
Friend, I hope that you can find joy in the midst of chaos. I hope that social distancing does not distance you from joy- in fact, I pray that God uses it as a tool to bring you closer to Him and His true joy.
