We don’t want to get Coronavirus, but it’s already got a lot of us. Sifting through multitudes of mixed messages, we can at least be sure something is making a lot of the world sick at the same time, and some die. Other than that, there’s a lot we don’t know. Finding a cure is a priority. Lost between infographics of symptoms and illustrations of mask wearing, some of the most dangerous symptoms are the hidden ones. You may already be infected.
Living in unprecedented isolation and uncertainty with fear knocking at our quarantine doors, we’re desperate. Desperate to connect with others (hello, lonely much?), to know how others are managing (social media stalking), to survive this whole (will we ever be normal?), and to control the shape of our story in it (will you think I’m nuts?). Even if we don’t ever test positive for COVID-19, this pandemic may be killing us.
Cooped up at home, at a social distance, we’ve turned more than ever to social media. Who’s taken up a hobby, started making sourdough bread, used an exercise app for 50 days, or sewed masks for the rest of us? Some meet on Zoom, freshly aware we have a big foreheads or short necks. We’re comparing.
Comparison
Getting caught up in comparison puts us at risk for missing out on authentic growth. Our growth. Your COVID story isn’t mine, and mine isn’t yours.
COVID made some of us sick. It makes others widows. It makes others depressed. It makes some unemployed. It makes others scared. It makes others lonely. It doesn’t discriminate in touching every life. The impact of sin is like that; everyone feels the damage. All of us own and experience the outcomes of living against God’s perfect design. (See what I mean in Isaiah 53:6)
Comparison holds us hostage to our perception of others and keeps us distracted from real reasons for gratitude and growth. When we look to other people for a “cure” for our pains, we’re disappointed.
Contentment
We’re meant to be content, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Whatever your hardships, they’re yours. We easily fall into looking around at what others have and do and are, and we want what they have and do and are.
I lean in to someone who knows how to struggle with a hard scenario. In Philippians 4:11b we hear from a man who experienced hunger, illness, shipwreck, attack, house arrest, and more. (It sounds like 2020.) Paul said, “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content …”
I confess I haven’t been content in “whatever situation” during this pandemic. I need to grow. Paul said, “I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need,” (Philippians 4:12). Before he says he’s learned the secret of contentment, he talks about how to find peace so it leads to contentment. You can read it here.
Crafting our story
If contentment isn’t sourced in something true, we can become consumed with crafting an image to make life look good. Spinning the truth. Living through a pandemic can tempt us to do that. It can prevent us from finding a cure for our symptoms of comparison and discontentment.
I had a colleague consumed with how her success compared, consumed more with crafting the image of her life than the integrity of her life. She lived in constant fear the truth would be revealed or, worse, reported to a watching world.
Isolation gives us the illusion we have secrets. But we know our true story. God knows our true story. “You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.” (Psalm 90:8)
It may look like I’m living on kale salad and wearing workout to workout, but truth is I just finished the last of a half gallon of Tillamook Old Fashioned Vanilla last night. With a blob of peanut butter. While watching Netflix. And I’m not ashamed of it.
We live in a time of exposure, when stray words or action threatens to hurl us to a national, unmerciful stage. Being flawed is dangerous, and we’re all flawed. We can’t mask our mistakes.
We fear exposure to COVID-19, but we may already be living infected with its effects.
Finding a Cure
I may need to stop watching the Instastory about your haircolor, your cute flats, your chickens, your flowers, or your new light fixture. Don’t get me wrong – those are good things. Instead, I may need to give thanks for my life and my good things. Give thanks for what God gave me, believing it’s good for me. God only gives good gifts. (James 1:17)
Finding a cure for the hidden symptoms of COVID-19 begins with gratitude expressed in prayer, overflowing in trust that leads to peace.
As we let go of comparison and the image it demands we craft, we let go of anxiety that we don’t have enough or that it doesn’t look good enough. We experience contentment.
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Vv. 4-7)
We don’t know when or if there will be a vaccine for COVID-19, but there’s a cure for our hidden symptoms right now.
Questions for reflection:
- How would you say you’re experiencing comparison or contentment now?
- What would you say about influences most likely to cause discontentment for you?
- Is there a step you could take today to choose contentment over comparison?
Hello Julie! I am a long-time reader of your blog and want to say Thank You for each article you have written and shared with all of us. God has used you in my own life to encourage, educate, and inspire through the years. Today’s piece is no exception – just the right words at just the right time. It is often so hard to be “real” with others, but that is our path to genuine connection. I needed this reminder today. Thanks again. 🙂