“Stay home!”. I say these words to Ruth, my border collie/companion/coworker and she instantly appears to wilt like an old flower. Her ears go flat, her head drops, and her tail curls down between her legs. She pouts. Like most dogs, Ruth loves to ‘go’. She doesn't care where, for how long, or why we are going, she just wants to “go”. This is partly the reason for her name, taken from Ruth's appeal to Naomi in the book of Ruth; “Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.” (Ruth 1:16-17). I thought that Scripture perfectly described a good dog’s attitude when I named her. Besides that, she can say her own name if asked. (I know, it's a stretch, but it makes me laugh!)

I was reminded of Ruth's aversion to being told to “stay home” as I talked with a friend about the official recommendations of the CDC and our government in response to the Covid19 outbreak. People are wilting under the news. Fear and panic seem to be the prevalent symptoms of Covid19, whether a person is infected or not, and although we, as Believers, know that fear is a spirit (2 Tim. 1:7), we are still prone to experiencing fear as an emotion. But what became apparent to me as I talked with people about these recommendations was that some of the suggestions made for our own safety produced as much fear as anything else about the illness. In particular, the concept of ‘staying home’ seemed to stir up its own pandemic of negative emotions and thoughts. “What if” questions abound (Notably, “What if we run out of toilet paper?”).

In our God-blessed country and society, we have always enjoyed the freedom to ‘go and do’ pretty much as we have pleased. For many of us, ‘going and doing’ has become what our lives have revolved around. Change, even if temporary, can be uncomfortable, and even frightening.

There is no doubt that our enemy sometimes uses isolation as a weapon against us, to make us feel vulnerable, afraid, and out of touch with our support systems, but I began to wonder, what if we were to disarm the enemy by taking his own weapons away from him and using them against him? If our minds are indeed the battlefield (and they are), what if we took those weapons/thoughts captive according to the principles in 1 Cor.10:4-5 (“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”)? What if we turned Satan’s weapon of isolation around and used that same weapon to defeat him?

Our churches and religions value collective worship, group meetings, and growing congregations. (In fact, the very word congregation means group.) And these things are all good and essential for nourishing our faith. But God has used solitude throughout the Bible to draw His own closer to Himself. Moses was alone in the desert when God first spoke to him from the burning bush (Ex. 3:1-3), as was Elijah when God provided for him and gave him revelation in the wilderness (1 Kings 19). We are told throughout the gospels about how Jesus craved time alone with His Father. What we may see as times of isolation, God uses as opportunities to remind us that He is the Creator of relationship, and that He created us first and foremost for relationship with Him.

So, what if...? What if, we were to make a decision to view this “time out” from life as an opportunity rather than a hardship? What if we were to redefine this interval as a time of consecration, to pull away from our normal busy routines and activities in order to have that quiet time with God that Jesus prioritized? What if our slowed-down social life became a chance for us to talk to God about our concerns with the same familiarity with which we talk to our neighbors? What if we looked to God rather than our devices and the news right now? What if we discovered that when we do this, He speaks to us in an amazing way we’ve never experienced before? What if parents faced with having their kids at home for the next three weeks were to get to know their children in a whole new way by using this time to intentionally talk to them about their lives, or by playing with them? What if families rediscovered an appreciation for the simple abundance that God provides for us right in our very own homes and lives?

What if this is actually not a man-made imposition, but is really a gift straight from God’s own hand, His hand opening up to invite us closer to Him?

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”(Romans 8:28). What if “staying home” is actually a way that God is calling out to us to “go”; to go on a whole new journey, to lead us on a new path, a way that takes us closer to Him?