THINGS WE SHOULD REMEMBER DURING THIS QUARANTINE FROM ACBC AND CCEF, ETC I don’t know about you but if you have been quarantined for the past month (almost), then you may be ready for this quarantine to end. We are being told daily that curve is flattening and as Americans we are use to our freedoms. But we must wait. We certainly do not want to go out too soon and have many die (or get sick ourselves). If we are too quick to resume normal life, this month of waiting would lead to another one or two months of waiting. We live in a microwave culture. We don’t like to wait, do we? We are used to getting things quickly. Apparently God felt we needed to slow down for a bit. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that God caused this (I do not think He did), but He has allowed it and now we are all (most of us) forced to slow down and wait this out. I think we need to look at some of those who waited in Scripture (and these are just a few). 1. First, look at Abraham and Sarah. First, God told Abram to take his wife and leave his father’s house. Then God told Abraham that he would be the father of many people. Yet Sarah was getting old and they had no children. Sarah waited 25 years before she gave birth to Isaac. Gen. 17:16 tells us that Sarah was 90 years old before she gave birth. 2. Look at Joseph. He had a dream that his brothers would bow down to him. They sold him into slavery when he was 17 (Gen. 37:2). Joseph spent 13 years in slavery and in jail before he became second in command in Egypt at the age of 30 (Gen. 41:46). 3. David was anointed king many years before he became King. Samuel anointed David king (1 Samuel 16) after Jesse brought out his older 7 children. Scripture calls David ruddy. He was either a child or an adolescent. He actually became king when he was 30 years old (2 Samuel 5:4). 4. Anna was told that she would see the Messiah. Many bibles and older commentaries say that she was 84 years old when she finally saw Jesus. 5. Finally, Jesus waited. Jesus was 30 years old before he started His ministry (Luke 3:23). He only had about a three-year ministry. So as we wait to be able to return to normal daily life (as frustrating as it is), why not ask God to teach you something through this. We can wait and learn. God calls then we wait. That is just the way it is. The waiting time is preparatory. This virus did not surprise God. He knew it was coming and He knew what the results would be. So just be thankful that we serve a God who is in control. This virus did not sneak up on Him, so there must be a reason for it. Think prayerfully about that. Before I close this though, I do want to thank people who are still working. Grocery stores are still open, doctors and nurses are willingly exposing themselves to this virus daily, first responders are working. There are others that I am sure I will not think of but I know one of my sons delivers food to people, the other works in water filtration. They are both working. Doctors (like my husband) are being given the opportunity to come out of retirement for a while. Gas stations are open and restaurants with drive thrus. Even other restaurants are staying open for deliveries. While many of us are getting a forced rest, there are those who are working hard each and every day. Thank you to those people.