If you want a perfect example of people having to live a new normal, just read through the book of Daniel! In his first attack, Nebuchadnezzar didn’t destroy Jerusalem. He simply took treasures from the temple as well as the cream of the crop of the young men of Jerusalem. He made them eunuchs in order that they might study without distraction. Then he educated them in the laws of science and knowledge in preparation to become administrators throughout his empire. However your life has been disrupted, you get to choose between righteousness and sin.
Sin leads to two things. The first is blasphemy. Sin invariably causes people to feel blasphemous toward the Lord. If you can’t see the connection, just look at history and how certain sins have become more acceptable as the years pass. Don’t give into old or new sins during this crisis. Secondly, sin always leads to bondage. The people of God were being carried in chains to Babylon because of their sin. That’s what sin does—it has a way of ensnaring and trapping you. While having shelter in place is not a result of some sin you committed, a lot of people will find that the sin they were able to hold somewhat at bay when they were out and about imprisons them when they have little else to do. People are living with emotions none of us want to deal with.
For every Jew living at that time (in the book of Daniel), their world was rocked. Life DID NOT go back to normal for anyone. As we’re all faced with a new normal, we have to know the appropriate way to handle it. Think of the numerous examples of “new normal” in the Bible: from ecstasy to eviction (Genesis 3), from faith to flood, new beginning (Noah), a new people (Father Abraham), 400 years of slavery, deliverance, the Promised Land, Judges (disobedience), desertion, domination, desperation, deliverance…You’re not alone in this!
In reality, the more things change, the more they stay the same! In our country’s relatively short history as a nation, we’ve been awoken spiritually/corporately through 9-11 and COVID-19. Both of these were opportunities to consider the state of Christianity. We need to quickly adjust to the new normal. I’ve heard that those who don’t stand for anything will eventually fall for everything. One thing I learned in a study of the new normal (in Daniel) is that exactly 4 people out of almost 20,000 were ready for it and made rapid-fire adjustments that not only allowed them to stand strong in a foreign land—but rather—to thrive. See Daniel 1:8.
Something that Daniel understood, and that I hope you cling to as well, is that you have to stay anchored in the new normal. Daniel and his friends never traded the Lord and godly friends just so they could fit into their new culture. He learned the value of following God closely in the new normal. It is my hope you can more than just survive this new normal. I want to see you thriving in the new normal!
The new normal. How are you going to respond? How are you going to live?