This is part one of a new seven part series, “Weathering the Pandemic”, written by Pastor Kevin Dixon.
I have lived long enough now to have weathered a few rough seasons. I could list the many recessions and stock market crashes. Those seasons were difficult economically. I could list the wars from Vietnam, Panama, Grenada, The Gulf Wars One and Two, Afghanistan…. This list is pretty extensive. There was the Nixon resignation, Iranian Hostages, Clinton Impeachment, Y2K crisis, 9/11 and on and on and on. Life is filled with seasons.
I grew up in the ‘70s with gas shortages and high inflation. Gas got expensive and smaller cars became all the rage. Chevrolet came out with cars like the Vega and the Chevette. These were bad days for cars. Even Ford downsized its Mustangs and put four-cylinder engines in a muscle car and called them the Mustang II. My own first car was a 1965 Volkswagen Bug – slime green with a hand crank moon roof. It was great for delivering pizzas.
In Ecclesiastes 3 Solomon reminds us (as The Byrds did later) that our lives are made up of Seasons.
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity
under the heavens: – Eccl. 3:1
Some are longer than others and some are better than others, but seasons come and seasons go.
The longer I live, the more I realize that getting too comfortable in any season is risky. For the one great constant in this world is change. We can get lulled to sleep in the midst of a good season and start thinking this is the way it will always be—or at a minimum, this is how it should be for me and my people. But seasons change, and we need to change with them.
This pandemic has started a new season. As far as seasons go, this one is going to feel a lot like winter. I grew up in a place that had long cold winters. The nights were long and the days were short. If you live in a place with cold winters you learn to make the best of them. The beauty of winter is often seen in the hope of spring. Winter serves a purpose for the land to rest. You can actually thrive in the winter—if you know what to do.
This pandemic is a season of our lives. It is going to be uncomfortable and it is going to change things. But, that doesn’t mean it can’t be profitable and life-changing in a good way. Join me over the next few weeks as we look at a season that is going to feel like winter and we figure out how to thrive in the cold and look for Spring. But, let’s not overreact like the car companies did in the ‘70s. No one needs a Chevy Vega or a Ford Mustang II.
Kevin Dixon is the Executive Pastor at Journey Church in Brentwood, TN. He is a graduate of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield IL.
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