Graduating From Normal
The Death of “Normal”
Remember when everything was normal?
When we went to the store, and played at the park, and visited friends, and never even thought about how much toilet paper we had, or if our face mask was in the car?
I admit that seems like a long time ago, even though it was only a few months. Maybe that’s because I have a strong suspicion that things aren't going back to normal anytime soon. Maybe never.
One of those normal things that vanished is graduation. My seventh child ... my last child ... baby of our family … is graduating this month. My twenty-seven year homeschool adventure approaches completion. It feels a bit like retirement for me.
I was planning a big shindig for her, and maybe even a little shindig for me. But then a pesky virus arrived and destroyed “normal.” Graduation, like everything else in our lives, must now look different.
But this all has got me to thinking. Maybe this is like graduation.
Think about it. When you graduate: Everything Changes. Classes no longer rule your life. You anticipate a new freedom, but then a great deal of responsibility rushes in to take that freedom's place.
I remember dreaming, as I was getting ready to graduate from college, about how much time I would have. After all, those papers wouldn't have to be written and I wouldn't be preparing for tests. I didn’t comprehend the amount of time that the everyday, mundane work would take.
But that’s what graduation is for. I launched from studying about what to do, so I could go DO!
Time To Graduate
In “normal” we did what we wanted when we wanted. Now we are constrained and restricted.
In “normal” we went to church if we wanted. Now we must use technology and creativity and only worship with our family who might be driving us a wee bit crazy with all the time together.
In “normal” we stayed busy with errands and meetings and lunches and activity. Now we must be still and quiet and (gasp!) be bored.
We demand to “get back to normal”. I think that as Believers in Jesus we need to quit complaining so we can graduate from normal.
Just because life is harder doesn't mean that it is wrong.
God hasn’t left His throne.
The Sovereign Ruler of the universe didn’t look away.
If we are living in uncertain times and difficult circumstances, it is on purpose.
Maybe the Lord is graduating Believers and the church from school and propelling us into application. How are we handling it?
What if we take all the lessons we've learned during our easy and apply them to this new hard? Now I realize that our lives haven't always been easy.
But remember when you graduated from school and begin to apply what you've learned to a job or to harder school or to adulthood? And all of a sudden you realize that what you thought was so hard wasn't that hard after all?
Happy graduation!
I suggest we are at a point of history where we get to do the same thing. We get to move on from our lessons and into application. And warning -- it’s probably going to get harder, not easier.
How do we live for Jesus as we look around and see so much of what we enjoyed disappear? Do we complain? Do we fight? Do we point fingers?
Or do we say, “Hello Jesus, thanks for putting us here. Thanks for graduating us from normal. What do you have for us to do NOW?
Graduation Day
Let’s take a moment and appreciate what we had in the past. Make a photo album. Have a party. Put on a cap and gown. And have a moment to say, “Yeah! Congratulations.”
And then let’s move on to what God is doing NOW.
It's time for us to realize that our American Christian life has actually been pretty darn easy. It might have felt hard at the time, but actually it was as easy as it's going to get. Let’s apply what we’ve learned and advance.
It's time for us to become the soldiers and doctors and evangelists and preachers and ministers and helpers and servers that the world needs. Because our world is hurting and it's broken and it's sick and it needs Jesus. And if we don't tell them who will?
Church arise! Let's graduate! Play Pomp and Circumstance and then get busy.
Because we have work to do!
It's time for us to move out into God’s New Normal. He's not surprised by this, so let's stop acting like it's all a big mistake. Let’s read about hard battles in Scripture and then let's put on our armor and get busy.
Today I’m graduating from normal. Want to join me?
And Next?
Come back next week and I'll talk about something else we're going to graduate from. Because, Church, it may not ever go back to how it was. In fact, there's very little chance it will.
If God is Sovereign and in control then it's in His hands. Let’s get with this program and see where He has for us to move in His Spirit and for His kingdom right where we are.
God's not surprised. But He is graduating us to His next work. Are we ready?
Need some encouragement? Check out these two posts.