New Normal

“The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” Romans 8:6 NIV

I hate the term “New Normal”. I started writing this post four different times until I realized I was trying to avoid these two freaking words. The first time I heard them was a few days after our daughter died. Someone who meant well tried to explain away the extreme amount of difference we were facing by simply saying “You will find a new normal”. I have heard it again in recent days. We all used to have our routines and standard operating procedures. Everything has changed at this point.

Many years ago, at a men’s conference I heard a message about having to decide each day if you have spent that day in a way that glorifies God or in a way that will in essence, burn in Hell. In other words, “How did you spend your day?” became a way of not just evaluating yourself, but a way to be accountable to that effort. After hearing that, a friend of mine walked into my office and dropped a bag of marbles on my desk along with a glass jar and a plastic one. He said that the glass jar represented heaven and the plastic jar represented a wasted day, nothing of eternal value.

We kept this up for a while. But we recognized a pattern, I was always putting marbles in the plastic jar and he was always putting his in the glass jar. We both wanted to use this exercise as a tool to be better husbands and fathers. We differed in our standard of evaluation, but we both ended up condemning ourselves. We decided that we should lose our marbles. While I have grown in this area, I am still chronically hard on myself.

So are you. I don’t even know you and I can say that confidently. If I continue the analogy with the marbles, even they are all unique. It is rare to find two that are exactly the same. Likewise, we are all a one of a kind creation, but too many times we set our marble next to someone else and look at the differences. The problem is sometimes we see the uniqueness as weakness. I think it is the very beauty of creation.

If God wanted us all the same, we would be. What He accomplished in our differences is spectacular. Look at the world around you right now. We have seen people stretched beyond anything they ever imagined. Jobs, work in general, food, security and faith have all been scrambled. If I look at my calendar for tomorrow it has certainly changed from what it normally is. The nightly news can be scary, but we sometimes need to be reminded that God has not left the throne.

Not to downplay a potentially deadly virus, but the mortality rate of humans is 100%. Maybe something positive out of this will be a realignment of how we examine our lives. Maybe we will be even more thankful for people, once we can be around them again. Maybe jobs will be more appreciated, even if it is not our dream job. Maybe we will realize that it is. Hugs will certainly feel better. The company of other humans will feel even more special.

What I want to encourage you to do is to lose your marbles. Don’t look at the differences using comparative analysis. Whether you are comparing yourself to others or comparing life to what used to be, look at the difference as part of the beauty. Appreciate the individual you are. Be thankful for your health as long as you have it. Remember the journey we are on does not end tomorrow. With Christ, it does not end at all, it does eventually transition to eternity, but that means a level of beauty we cannot yet understand.

What was the best thing you have seen this week?

What is the best thing your look forward to next week?

Challenge: Look at your life as a unique and beautiful creation. Remember that even if you are looking at someone else’s life, someone is also looking at yours thinking you are blessed. Just find reasons to be thankful.

Rick Claiborn