CHRIST IN CAPTIVITY by Dan O’Deens

2020 was a year in which the entire globe was unified under a pandemic.  This was not about fear, it was about a real virus that took many lives and altered our lives.

I was listening to Pastor Rick Warren and he said “we have all been affected and 2020 was a year of ‘captivity.’  Captivity is, the condition of having your freedom limited involuntarily.  Being confined, trapped, restricted or controlled against your will.”

2021 should be about ‘resetting’ our lives.  To simply get back to ‘normal’ would be to miss an opportunity of God speaking into our world.  Perhaps a time of meditation to answer the question, what things do I ‘NOT’ want to go back to?  Sometimes the ‘rat race’ of life should be left in the dust.  Now is the time for a ‘NEW’ day for the Church and for every individual believer that makes up the Church.

Do you believe Christ (Jesus) was present in our recent captivity?

What did we learn from 2020?

  • We learned we could build quality relationships virtually and in person equally

I have personally met people online (in person) that I now have deep authentic relationships.  I am grateful for all my friends all over the world that I am able to dial up in seconds.

  • We learned to be the Church virtually. We learned how to use online technology for expanding the Kingdom of God

“Zoom” became a business and household term.  We zoom with people.   We captured their faces and we touched their hearts and we saw people who would never ‘come’ to church experience the Church.

  • We learned to slow down and rest and enjoy family and friend

The old mantra of “How are you doing?…BUSY” changed.  We were less busy with the mundane and more busy with what is most important.  We reset and reversed the phase that embodied us pre-Covid19, ‘experience rich and relationship poor.’

  • We learned to be creative again and tackled some long overdue projects or created some Etsy type hobbies

OK, some of us ‘binged’ on Netflix or Hulu, but we also looked at our homes and took down a few giants that have stared us in the face for too long.  We did the work, rather than hiring it out.  We did projects together with family.

Just a few musings.  I believe God is also thinking about such things….for such a time as this!

You have experienced many things. Were all those experiences wasted? I hope not!” Galatians 3:4 (ICB) 

“This is what the Lord Almighty wants you to do: Take a good, hard look at your life. Think it over! You’ve spent a lot of money, but you haven’t much to show for it. You keep filling your plates, but you never get filled up! You keep drinking but you’re always thirsty. You put on layers of clothes, but you can’t get warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it! So give serious thought to your ways!” Haggai 1:5-7 (MES/NIV)

“The Lord says, ‘Forget the former things, and do not dwell on the past. Instead, look at the new things I am going to do. They are already starting to happen. Can you SEE what I’ve begun to do?’” Isaiah 43:18-19 (NCV)