What does normal look like going forward in the current situation and how do we proceed?
Q: What is normal?
The Merriam Webster definition: Conforming to a type, standard, or regular pattern. Types, standards, and regular patterns (or what is considered “regular”) undoubtedly shift, and even when static, are largely subjective things.
It’s important however we challenge what we think is normal.
Time in lockdown has given us the opportunity to hopefully reflect on how we do life and to question our normal patterns.
Read Deuteronomy 1:1- 8 (NIV)
Be moveable
A journey of 11 days took 40 years. These people had issues, they were stuck in a normal they didn’t want to change.
Imagine being an Israelite and you heard God say to break camp, move and advance. What would be your response?
My response would b:
Feelings and emotions are valid. You can’t stop what you feel. Feelings and emotions change too, it’s what you choose to do with those feelings that matter. It’s important to take those feelings to God in prayer and ask Him to bring those feelings in line with His will.
God does not want us to camp forever in one spot, he wants us to move forward.
Moving forward is a growth mindset.
God wants us to learn and He wants us to move forward.
We serve a God who is on the move, who is always at work, are we moving with him? Or are we stuck?
We’re not going back to normal, we’re moving forward with God to a new normal. It requires us to be agile and to move with Him.
Be open
God was opening the eyes of the Israelites to a new land of possibilities, ready for the taking. It wasn’t just going to be handed over, it needed to be taken.
And as this people stood at the edge of all these new possibilities, many of them yearned to go back to what was their old normal.
A sad response to a new possibility:
Numbers 14:1-4
That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
What could be some of the reasons you can see why the Israelites didn’t want to move forward?
Fear held the Israelites in captivity and as a result they were closed off to what God had that was new.
If we want to see the miraculous, it takes us being open to God doing a new thing in us first.
How open are you to learning?
CONCLUSION
So how do we move forward to a new normal?
• It requires us to be moveable and open.
• It requires us to look at our fears, challenge them and trust God has our best interest at heart.
• It will mean letting go of some things to take up what is new
• It means celebrating how our past has shaped us, taking its learnings forward
God is on the move across this planet. Never have we seen such an act of solidarity across the world. We are literally all in this together and I believe we are on the cusp of seeing a great move of God.
Isaiah 43: 19 - See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
Questions for Discussion
What are the challenges that exist in moving forward?
What stops us from being open to new things?
What are some learnings that God has shown you in the past couple of months?
Where have you seen the act of letting go and taking up the new in your life previously? What got you through?
Some Israelites moved into the Promised Land, others chose not to enter it, what are the pros and cons of either decision?