Turning from “Quarantine and Chill” to “Quarantine and God”

Can we all agree that we are facing something that we have never seen?

Many of us have read this in the Bible but didn’t think that we would see it in our lifetime. This has shaken everyone – believers, nonbelievers, young, old and in between.

As many of us are quarantined and are forced to sit still – that means sitting with ourselves and discovering ourselves all over again. It has changed our perspectives, our focus and has allowed us to think about where our hope and trust are. I mean even those of us who claim to have great faith have felt our knees buckle a bit with the uncertainty. The gloom, the news, and the loss of control.

We can’t touch doorknobs, toilet tissue is scarce, lines to enter supermarkets are around the corner, if you sneeze, people run away instead of saying “God Bless you!” and I don’t think many of us will look at a Lysol disinfectant spray the same again.

I have been in the book of Colossians and I tried to begin reading a different Chapter, but God has kept me in Colossians Chapter 2 verses 6 through 10.

I picked up my Life Application Bible and began to dissect Colossians Chapter 2 because I believe there was a message God needed me to receive and to share.

We have all heard the story about the “Three Little Pigs” and if you haven’t or can’t remember let me fill you in.

Once upon a time, there were Three Little Pigs one pig built a house of straw while the second pig built his house with sticks they built their houses very quickly and then sang and danced all day because they were lazy but the third little pig worked hard all day and built his house with bricks. A big bad wolf saw the two little pigs while they danced and played and thought “what juicy tender meals they would make” and began to chase the two pigs and they ran and hid in their houses.

The big bad wolf tried to blow the first house down and he blew it down in minutes, the frightened little pig ran to hide at the second pig’s house that was made of sticks. The big bad wolf came to his house and huffed and puffed and blew down the house in hardly anytime. Now the two scared pigs ran to the third piggy’s house and when the big bad wolf tried to huff and puff and blow the house down, he could not.

The wolf was determined to blow the house down and he tried for hours and even tried climbing into the chimney, but the third pig boiled water and kept it below the chimney. The wolf fell into it and died.

What is the moral of this story?

Unless we build our lives on Christ it is a shaky foundation and it requires work and spending intimate time with Him. I have seen dozens of videos circulating online showing doctors and nurses and random people on their knees praying to God because, at this point, He is all we have –  especially those on the front line.

But truthfully, He is all we ever had to begin with.

I have been guilty because I wasn’t in the Word as much as I should have and I allowed distractions to keep me from praying the way I should and spending time with God.

Whatever it is that we have allowed to become a form of a God,  can only give momentary pleasure. In Colossians, the Word of God says that “we are to be rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught abounding in it with Thanksgiving and we are complete in Him.”

How many other things have we allowed ourselves to be rooted in and built up in? Social media, work, relationships, Netflix, etc.

These are all forms of entertainment or obligations that we have allowed to take precedence in our lives and usually, it’s because we’re trying to distract our minds from a void that we feel and that only God can fill.

These are called idols.

As I began to study Colossians, I recognized that to be complete in God is to be secure in God. Fear will try to rear its ugly head, but we have to remember that we are safe in God and He is our only protection not only from this pandemic but from every other unseen danger.

So how can we use this quarantine time for our good?

I have read many social media posts about developing a new skill, creating a hobby, or just trying to remain productive in spite of what is happening.

Can we all agree that God has gotten our attention?

Let’s just go back to the Three Little Pigs story. The third piggy was able to build a house that was sturdy enough that the wolf could not takedown. When we build our lives on what God wants us to do, walking in purpose for the destiny that He created for us long before we were even born, that is a lasting foundation and an eternal one.

1 Corinthians 3:12-13 it states, “Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, the fire will test each ones’ work” Whew! So many people are broken, helpless and don’t know where to turn but when you have been keeping yourself rooted and firm in God it gives you hope, and hope is trusting God to fulfill His promises to you despite what is happening around you.

But how can you trust someone you don’t know?

I would encourage you to spend some quarantine and chill time with your Creator. Let Him develop you, Let Him build you, Let Him heal you and most importantly let Him guide you.

Most of you are searching for answers that only God can give you. He knows you more than you know yourself. He knows your fears, pain, and shame. Let us turn this quarantine and chill to quarantine and God.

About the Author 

Cynthia Montour is a mother, writer, and founder of Hope Deferred Inc. – an organization that empowers single moms to live life to the fullest potential through the transforming power of God’s love.