By Hannah Ng’uni

Remember at the start of this year all the excitement about 2020? Yay we’ve lived to see the start of a new decade, it’s ‘twentyplenty’, it’s going to be amazing! I felt the same, begun the new year in church, danced my way in past midnight. Prayed and wrote down what I am trusting God for, wrote down the negative thoughts and attitudes I did not want to carry over and binned them, literally! Felt motivated, my faith was built up by the word that night, declared boldly ‘it’s my year of growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ’ (2 Peter 3:17 NKJV).

Fast-forward to over 2 months later, life as we knew it changed. The coronavirus pandemic took over. With the word ‘unprecedented’ being thrown around, daily breaking news of the virus spreading and death toll rising, empty shelves in supermarkets, forwarded messages/posts with conspiracy theories (p.s. very irritating), it is no wonder fear lingers in the air. And now we are in quarantine, lock down. Sounds like a movie, doesn’t it?! So how am I keeping the faith during this period?

Not going to pretend that I have not had moments were fear crept in after watching the news or a video on social media. Thinking, what if I or a family member catches the virus? The mind is very powerful, dwell on a thought long enough and it starts to become. I’m sure you can think of an example of this in your own life. The point is, dwelling on that thought – positive or negative – is a choice, it is not forced on me and doesn’t have to stay.

I have learnt in my faith journey that that I possess a beautiful God-given ability to capture those thoughts that do not line up with Gods’ Word and teach them to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5 NLT). So do you as a believer in Christ. How awesome is that?! Easier said than done though, must admit. What is helping me is examining my thoughts and feelings against the list in Philippians 4:8 (AMP) and shifting my focus from fear and anxiety on to what is true, right, pure and wholesome etc. It is an on-going process.

So, what does that look like practically?

Romans 12:2 (NLT)

² Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

By letting God change my thinking, another version says ‘renewing your mind’ through reading the word (Bible), listening to sound preaching, praise and worship music. Not only do I find that this helps me draw closer to God but also helps strengthen my faith because “…faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17 NKJV).  Also helps to keep my focus on God and in turn I find that I’ve got peace even amidst the chaos, panic and fear. Again, it is an on-going process and I choice I make daily.

Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV)

³ You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.

I truly believe Jesus wants us to have faith, He wants us to have peace, He wants us to trust Him even when everything around us says otherwise. He is saying, ‘in this quarantine period, where is your faith at? Where are your thoughts at?’… selah. Until the next article…Jesus loves you and so do I 😊