“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7 NLT)
How many times have you heard the phrase ‘new normal’? What does ‘normal’ even mean? According to Webster’s Dictionary, the word normal means ‘conforming to a type, standard or regular pattern.’ One of the synonyms is ‘familiar.’
Let me share how the Israelites came out of Egypt. The Pharaoh and his army chased after them, the people saw them coming and cried out to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?” (Exodus 14:11)
In times of great distress or even panic, we long for the normal. The Israelites suffered greatly in Egypt before they left, but that was normal. They longed for the normal. Sadly, they lost their trust in God and His promises.
In some ways, I feel the same with what the Israelites felt. I long for the normal. I just want everything to be normal again. There is too much stress and anxiety when things are not completely normal.
We are also seeking God like never before in our lifetime. We are praying, we are engaged. In that way, God is calling us towards a ‘New Normal’ – not towards the one that we long to go back to nor the one that has us with schedules so full (that we don’t have time for what is really important.)
So then, if God is calling us to a new normal, maybe we aren’t meant to go back to “normal.” Maybe, this is normal- our “New Normal.”
Looking forward to that day when it becomes familiar,
Pastor Gary Yalung
