“COVID-19 Is Attacking the Soul of the Family”
[18] Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord
Isaiah 1:18a
It is time for a new conversation. “I could be wrong.” We must approach each other with humility when we are weary, wounded and angry. We must have a vision for dialogue in an age of division. The tremendous stress of a pandemic, police brutality, racial division and governmental impotence is beating down upon the doors of our family structure. Clear and concise communication is being muffled and mystified, creating tension and tumultuous environments within relationships.
The spirit of division has infiltrated our government, our communities, our cities, our country, our nation, our churches and our families. It is sitting in high places and pouring its venomous secretions into the souls of any willing recipient. Division can be deadly when it’s aimed at the foundation of a structure that supports and anchors the very existence of a people. It has been known to topple kingdoms and leave thriving and progressive dynasties weak, worn, withered and wrecked.
As we are weathering the raging waves and trends of COVID-19, we must undergird and unify our families with sufficient armor to withstand this perfect storm that is upon us. This perfect storm consists of a prevailing pandemic, persisting racial inequities, police brutality, pestilences, and polluted political posturing.
We must arm ourselves with temperance to talk with tamed tongues and submitted spirits to release treasures of darkness and not toxic ruin within our relationships. As we seek to get our balance within our homes and relationships, there must be some uncomfortable conversations.
There must be a coming to the table for more than partaking in a natural meal experience. It’s time for a new conversation. We need to have conversations that acknowledge the deep hurt we are feeling and have encountered that has been left unheard and unhealed. Moving forward there must be space created for forgiveness and release of heavy burdens.
We can no longer treat our communication cancer with Tylenol and opt out of elective surgery to remove the roots of our relational infections. We must seize this moment of tremendous change and challenge to discuss the hard truths upon our hearts.
These conversations need to take place on different fronts. Many beginning in the marital dyad and flowing through the funnels of the family. The dialogue have to be bigger than just acknowledging offenses and pain, but it must pause on a plan to bring about reconciliation, restoration and reframing of vision for a future of hope and peace.
We cannot seek to condemn rather than understand. Sometimes we have to weep and cry together as we consider the great falling away our nation and families are experiencing. The coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout are exacting a devastating toll on our country as well as families.
Millions of parents have lost their jobs; tens of thousands of people are dying, including many grandparents, mothers and fathers. All over the country people are contending with a volatile, uncertain future that will impact and shape their lives and their children’s lives for years to come.
The climate around us has produced economic uncertainty and the stress of lockdown. Social distancing has greatly affected the comfort of touch and has released a form of loneliness and isolation within the spirits of many. While staying at home has been good for containing transmission of viral infection, it has produced a state of withdrawal within the minds of many that can lead to anxiety and depression.
Families are strengthened and validated by the presence and the company of other families. This is especially true with a corporate worship experience. The impact of not gathering for in person worship services has placed a spiritual lethargicness and weariness upon many. We must fight the fear of death and trust God to deliver us from all evil.
There yet remains a risk of becoming what the Chinese call “bare branches.” We must remain connected to the vine of our family, church family and our community family at large. This connection has to continue to be challenged with conversation, creative ways to express our love for one another and a call to change.
The social unrest that is around us cannot be put to rest within us. There must be an emerging of a “family first” model of marriage. This “family first” must be more than just a remark we casually express. It must be a radical new norm that drives away buzzards of division and unforgiveness.
As we are experiencing governmental impotence, let us become fertile in our family growth and transformation. Our call to arms in prayer at this season is for the covering of our children as we approach the opening of our schools. Decisions on how to provide education and childcare in the context of a global pandemic that has already killed more than 135,000 people in the United States are terribly complex and emotionally fraught.
It has been apparent for some time that there are no easy answers or quick fixes. The widespread failure in the United States to lower the spread of the virus is a reminder that we need divine intervention. We must trust God to keep and protect our children and give his angels charge over their lives. We believe and receive the grace of God’s government within our families for such a time as this.
As we face forward, there is a fresh move of healing, hope and reconciliation that will flow through the body of Christ like never before. We will see the goodness of the Lord perfected in our presence and the promises of God will be manifest. “YOU ARE CALLED TO THE KINGDOM FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS!”
Shalom,
Apostle Nixon