Pandemic Ponderings- My daily thoughts on this time in history.

Monday March 23: I already mentioned that bread, along with toilet paper is in scarce supply. So, I decide to make some. Anticipating this shortage, there have been numerous easy recipes on line. I pick one, and throw myself into it up to my elbows, literally. As I’m kneading, the harmonies of the Beach Boys drift up the stairs. Joe is down in the basement doing his exercises, while listening to old vinyl records on the turntable I bought him for Christmas. I’m singing along to Surfer Girl, still pounding on the developing glutenous blob, when the track changes. The song is In My Room. Not the fun in the sun, grab your surfboard tune you associate with these guys, it’s sweetly moody. In this new normal, the words strike a chord within me, if you’ll excuse the pun. Here they are:
There’s a world where I can go
And tell my troubles to
In my room, in my room
In this world I lock out
All my worries and my fears
In my room, in my room
Do my dreaming and my scheming
Lie awake and pray
Do my crying and my sighing
Laugh at yesterday
Now it’s dark and I’m alone
But I won’t be afraid.
In my room, in my room
Since I’m in the in the house so much, and for who knows how much longer, I spend precious time in my room. Reading/studying my Bible, praying, resting, cleaning closets, reading some more, and meditating on the situation we find ourselves in. Even during the night, I find myself waking up for no reason, so I put the time to use by praying some more. The song brought to mind this verse from Matthew 6:6: “But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” Corporate prayer is hard to accomplish right now, but God loves it when we come to him one-on-one. After all he is our Father, and what parent doesn’t treasure that precious time.

I doubt that Brian Wilson was inspired by this verse, but it sure got me thinking. During this unprecedented event in world history, what are we doing with our time? Sleeping in, babysitting, binge watching Netflix, answering questions about yourself on Facebook, making mountains of food? Okay, I’m guilty as charged on that last one. None of these things is bad, but a steady diet of them will leave us bloated and lethargic, spiritually. Just what the enemy wants. If Satan can get our minds away from God, he is delighted. Getting away from the news, kitchen and social media, and going to our “rooms” for a while takes strength. Please discipline yourself to spend some quality time, alone, in your room with your Father. “The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness.” James 5:16

Even the Beach Boys knew that great things can happen when we’re alone. We as Christians need to realize that fact more than ever. When we seclude ourselves with God, our prayers are effective, they are working to change the natural state into the super-natural. Go ahead and make some cookies, or watch a movie or 3, but don’t get so busy that you forget to pray. Now, all of you go to your rooms, and let's kick covid19 to the curb! We can do it together!!