Help for These Crazy Days is Closer Than You Think

Sailor-Man and I traveled by ferry on the weekend to visit our son and his family. In times past, ferry rules said we could not remain in our car for the crossing to Vancouver Island. We had to leave our vehicle and go upstairs to one of the passenger decks for the trip’s duration.

The pandemic has changed the rules. As the ferry pulled away from the dock, an announcement encouraged passengers to remain in their vehicles. Anyone choosing to go upstairs would have to wear a mask and maintain safe distancing.

Sailor-Man and I stayed put. The people in the car behind us went upstairs. Unfortunately, something triggered their car alarm, and not just once. It pierced the air and our eardrums about eighty times during the ninety-minute crossing.

Annoying? Yes. But pandemic circumstances have stirred up a lot more emotions than annoyance.

So many emotions

As COVID numbers begin to climb again, some folks fear that we’ll soon be looking at a rerun of the past few months. Some are fed up, frustrated with trying to figure out what’s fact and what’s fiction.  

Some folks are excited about re-engaging with society. Others feel sadness at the prospect of emerging from hibernation.

Some folks are grieving loss of loved ones. Others are dealing with disappointment over the death of a dream. Some are grateful for the calm that COVID-19 brought when isolation forced them to stay home. Others are confused about how to proceed from this point.

None of us have walked a road like this before, and trying to figure out how to do it well can stretch anyone. But there’s good news. We don’t have to attempt this on our own.

Ephesians 6:10 reminds us that we can tap into a supernatural power source:

“Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”

Locked up in a supernatural way

In the original language, the phrase “in the Lord” implied that the supernatural power we need is locked up in the person of Jesus Christ.

But get this—believers are also locked up in Him (Ephesians 1:3,4,6,7,10,11,13). He is our permanent spiritual address. That means we’re located in the same place as the Holy Spirit’s power.

One writer paints a word picture to help us understand this spiritual principle. He tells readers to think of an aquarium that holds water and a fish. Christ would be the tank, the Spirit is the water in the tank, and believers are the fish immersed in the water.

Both the water and the fish are in the same place—inside the tank. This gives the fish immediate and constant access to the water. Such is our access to the Holy Spirit’s strength “in the Lord.” We don’t have to go searching or begging for it.

If we’re followers of Christ, then we have ready access to the Spirit’s power because we’re locked up in Christ with Him. Trouble is, we sometimes forget. We grow accustomed to trying to do life in our own power and figure this is just the way it is.

As we learn to walk this road of change and uncertainty, let’s admit that our strength is not enough. Let’s make it our goal, then, to do it in the Holy Spirit’s supernatural power. That means becoming more aware of His presence and what it means to walk in step with Him moment by moment.