When I first went to work at a daycare center back in 1990, I was hired because the lead teacher was going on maternity leave. I worked with her and another assistant for a few days, then she was gone. During the next several weeks, I worked with the other assistant, we had a temporary substitute lead teacher, then it was back to the two of us. The six-week maternity leave turned into several months and people kept asking me, “won’t you be glad when things get back to normal around here?”
Not exactly sure what normal was, I usually replied. “I sure will.” Whether we ever found that ‘normal’ again I’m not sure…but eventually things did settle down a bit once the lead teacher returned.
Whatever our life is like or whatever our everyday existence consists of, as long as it is consistent, we think of it as normal. As people grow up and mature our normal lives change as our circumstances change: we finish school, get married, change jobs etc. We get accustomed and our new circumstance becomes our new normal. Let’s take a look at some people in the Bible and how their normal lives changed.
Jesus had just stepped off a ship in Mark 5:1-20 when he met a man who lived among the tombs because he was possessed by many demons. Many times men had tried to tame him by placing him in chains…but each time he broke loose. ‘Normal’ for this man was running through the mountains day and night among the tombs, crying and cutting himself with stones. When he saw Jesus, he knew who He was and called out to Him for help.
Seeing that the man was possessed, Jesus called the demons out of him and sent them into a herd of pigs…which ran violently down the hill into the sea and drowned. The owners of the pigs went and told others what they had seen, so the people came to see for themselves. They saw the man who had been mad, sitting next to Jesus…clothed and in his right mind…and they were afraid. They immediately ordered Jesus to leave and the man asked to go with Him, but Jesus told him, “Go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you.” He did just that, and the people marveled.
Can we even imagine how this man’s life changed after his encounter with Jesus? What do you suppose his new ‘normal’ was like?
In the next few verses we read about a woman who had suffered for twelve years with an issue of blood. When she heard Jesus was in town, she joined the crowd that gathered around Him. In her heart she knew if she could but touch the edge of His garment, she would be healed. When she touched His clothes, she felt the blood flow stop. Right then, Jesus stopped, turned around and asked, “Who touched me?” He had felt the virtue leave Him. Mark 5:30
His disciples were shocked. “You see all the people crowding around you… and you ask, “Who touched me?”
He looked around and saw the woman, scared and trembling. She admitted what had happened and fell to her knees before Him. Jesus said to her, “Daughter, thy faith has made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”
We can imagine she went home praising God and ready to face a whole new ‘normal’ way of life.
Things often happen that change the way we live but most often the change is expected and easy to conform to. When something like our world is facing today happens… a virus that puts the whole world on hold, it can be a shock. Everyone is saying, “I’ll be so glad when life can get back to normal.” Is the ‘normal’ we knew a couple of months ago what we really want to go back to?
I’m not thinking only of our personal lives, but life as a whole…as a world. Wouldn’t it be nice if some things could be different? Maybe we could all agree to disagree, especially on touchy subjects like politics and religion? Maybe spending time with each other as a family, if we try to make the best of it, will lead to stronger, more positive feelings and much closer relationships. Maybe the hate could go away and be replaced by love.
Americans are known for their strength of character and pulling together during tough times and it has been no different since the Coronavirus was discovered. People and families across the world are working side by side. Our doctors and nurses are going above and beyond what could reasonably be expected, putting their own health at risk with every patient they come in contact with. People have lost loved ones and too many have suffered to survive, but we won’t give up.
What if we all call out to Jesus, as the man and woman in Mark did. The kind of help we need can come only through Him. Love begets love and hate begets hate. Haven’t we seen enough of our world being torn apart by hate and sin? It’s time to dust off our Bibles, square up our shoulders and put on the whole armor of God. Only He can win the battle against powers and principalities, rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places. It’s time to open our mouths boldly and make known the mystery of the Gospel.
Jesus Christ, and His power to save is the same as it was when He walked the earth in human form. May we all encounter Him through this crisis. Only through Him can our lives be changed and we can get ‘back to normal’… but be better off. We hear many conspiracy theories, but only His truth will set us free. Let’s continue to be much in prayer for each other…and for a new normal that will cause us all to praise God!
