Takeaways

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Genesis 50:20)
 
I’ve been thinking recently about this question: What are the lessons God wants us to learn after this pandemic is over? What tips, what takeaways, and what keys to advancing God’s will and mission are we to derive from this season in which we’ve had to completely alter the way in which we do ministry and worship, almost exclusively online?  
 
What I’ve concluded is that what some may have thought would lead to our destruction and demise has actually turned out to be a new and a fresh opportunity to reach the masses in ways we never could have anticipated.  
 
Yes we do miss being able to gather together in buildings for worship and fellowship. We do miss the ability to physically see one another and to assemble as a community of faith. But, we have learned in the process that the realization of Joseph in Genesis chapter 50 verse 20 is both salient and true—that what the enemy meant for evil, God has used it for our good. What a marvelous truth for us to embrace as we continue to navigate our way through the complexities and anxieties of this public health crisis, to be able to find a way to keep trusting God, serving God, and looking to God to show us His glorious light.  
 
If we look back on the last year, we can clearly see that God, through the Holy Spirit, works to move the Church through crisis from one phase of ministry to another. We’ve witnessed how God moves and intervenes in the lives of his people in the midst of challenging times to reshape, reframe, and reimagine the ministry of the Church to be bigger, better, and stronger on the other side.  
 
So instead of focusing on all of the horrible, frustrating, and discouraging parts of the past year we’ve had to endure, let’s remain hopeful as we are reminded of how God took something so terrible and, in many ways, used it for good to further His Kingdom.