So raise your hand if your state is on a stay-at-home order. Only essential businesses are open and you’re not supposed to gather with anyone who isn’t living in the same house as you. That’s us here in Ohio. Shelter-in-place. Stay-at-home. It’s a low-key lockdown but not quite a full-on quarantine.
We’re still allowed to go outside. Go for walks while avoiding people we don’t live with. We can go the grocery store. Our doors aren’t sealed shut and we can still move about. Thank you, Lord!
Everything has changed for an undetermined yet hopefully short amount of time. Many are seeing their lives coming to a screeching halt while they look for a new normal.
Our screen times all jumped by 1529% and Home Depot is about to get busy while we find ourselves stuck in our homes surrounded by all the projects we’ve been putting off until we have more time.
But before we fill our hours with home improvement projects and Netflix (yes, we’re still watching), let’s consider this.
W H I T E S P A C E
The temptation of a distracted society is to fill the whitespace that has been thrust upon us with other distractions. But what if we leave some of those empty spaces on our calendar E M P T Y?
What if we make the empty places spaces of delightful nothingness. No music. No social media. No Netflix or Hulu or Amazon Prime Video.
Only sweet S I L E N C E.
What if we stopped everything and just listened. What are we afraid of? Why do we avoid silence at all costs?
For many, silence is overwhelmed by doubt and worry and fear. But let me encourage you. Get quiet anyway.
- If worry comes, replace it with the Word. (Isaiah 26:3)
- If anxiety knocks, cast it on the Lord who cares for you. (Psalm 112:7)
- If sadness floods you, turn to the healer of all broken hearts and let Him pour His comfort on that wound. (Psalm 34:18)
- If depression presses in, choose to rejoice in the God who rescued you and wrote your name in the Lamb’s book of life. (Philippians 3:1)
It’s worth it to press through and enter into silence. Whitespace calms the nerves and soothes the soul. It gives the mind time to reset.
The apostle John wrote the book of Revelation as a result of WHITESPACE when he was exiled on the isle of Patmos. Martin Luther, when exiled to the Wartburg Castle for 10 months, translated the New Testament into German.
Even though our day-to-day life has changed, we can still be productive for the Kingdom of God. That is, if we CHOOSE to be.
Home improvement projects aren’t bad and Netflix is okay in small doses. But why don’t we use some of this newly found free time to step away from the distractions that surround us even in our homes and press into God a little deeper.
- Read your Bible longer than usual.
- Linger in worship and prayer a little more than before.
- Read a book that will help you grow as a Christian.
What would it look like after the dust of this confinement settles if we all come out of it more connected to God, the source of life and power? More confident in who we are in Christ? More sure of our authority and bold enough to use it?
I’ll tell you what it would look like. It would look like revival! We would walk right into the revival we’ve been praying for years to see.
What can God do with our stillness? We’ll never know if we we’re never still. Find some whitespace and use it wisely. Reset your soul and press into God. Let’s do it together and find out what God can do through an undistracted church that is full of Him.
