7 Powerful Ways 2020 Was Totally Revolutionary

I remember 9/11.  Life changed, time stopped.

I also remember 3/15/2020.  Churches closed, basketball players stopped critical NBA games and ran toward the exits.

Life can never be the same.

Looking back this year, here are 7 ways life totally changed for me:   

1. The world got smaller.

   We all had a sudden understanding of “quarantine.”  Zoom, social media, and grocery stores became our whole world.  Work stopped for thousands of industries, schools, and offices.

   We can never go back to isolated lives.  We have to work at staying close to our contacts.  The world shrunk to a computer screen and we suddenly felt the whole world had become our family.

2. The church got closer.

   Zoom groups opened instead of services.  Christians had no contact for months with their traditional worship space.

   Live “prayer casts” to our congregations led everyone in fervent prayer for answers.  Some prayer casts even went worldwide and engaged up to 800 million people.  Worship and teaching all went digital.  

   We can never go back to church only in a building.    We all have our congregation where we are connected, give, and serve.  However, we don’t stop there.  We are “one body” of believers worldwide.

3. The world got more divided.

   Politics became polarized.  “Bipartisanship” died.  Instead of just voting our conscience everyone spewed their venom.

   Responses to how to solve the pandemic split along party lines.  There was seemingly no issue where any middle ground existed.

   We have to calm down and start dialoguing.  Dehumanizing everyone does not work.  Walk in love, even toward your enemies.  Honor your fellow man, regardless of his color, creed, or culture.

4. A new generation brought hope.

   I was privileged this year to speak to the Commencement service for over 800 graduates from my alma mater, Oral Roberts University.  

   Their young, bright faces who finished college in the face of such unparalleled challenges brought me a strong message loud and clear:  “HOPE.”

   There IS hope.  All of our children and grandchildren managed to move on to the next grade…through a pandemic!  We are graduating our first 92 pastors from a much-needed new school for a new generation of pastors:  “Pastors University.”  There is even hope for the ministry!

5. The outdoors got more precious.

   RV and motorhome dealerships tripled their sales and ran out of inventory.  The four walls of home started closing in on people and they started running for the hills!

   In October, Melanie and I took a month to go out West through 10 states.  We saw the West’s most beautiful sites.  Places we previously had no time to go suddenly became something our souls craved.  In Lousiana, fishing licenses were sold in record numbers! 

   We need to spend more time outside.  Re-discover your state, your region.  Camp, fish, drive, and picnic.  Your soul needs an occasional “window washing.”

6. The future got more uncertain.

   The Western world seemed to be in a free-fall.  Major industries needed subsidy to stay alive.  Currencies and economies seemed doomed.  Sports, movies, and even Disneyworld struggled for customers.

   Our trust is truly in God.  Our economy can be brought to its knees by something as microscopic as a virus!  I love the song, “I know who holds the future and life is worth the living just because HE LIVES.”

7. My prayer life got more intimate.

   I learned this year to wait on God.  I slowed down, stopped talking, and sat before Him in intimate worship.  My hurried, “order-at-the-window” prayer life didn’t cut it with the whole world on the line.

   What has 2020 taught you?  Take inventory, look back, and give God thanks for His mercy and grace.

Hopefully, we never have another year like 2020.

This one thing I have learned this year:  “We all grow STRONG IN THE STRUGGLE.”