Empty Shelves and Daffodils

Has anyone else found that there is more than one virus to face? It's not just Covid 19 - we have to handle the panic virus!

The fear is understandable. This is a global crisis - the first of my lifetime. It threatens not only the worldwide economy but also people I love. All around me, people are shaken. Today, my local Sainsbury’s was hiving with panicky shoppers faced with empty shelves. 4 supermarkets later and my hunt for loo-roll is still empty-handed!

We must respond to Covid 19 by handwashing and good practice but how do we respond to the panic virus?

Instead of constantly hooking ourselves up to fear-spiked, intravenous news, God wants us to first connect with his promises to help us. I wonder have you asked him to speak to you?

Here is one promise that blessed me this week - “we have treasure in jars of clay!” (2 Corinthians 4). Wow! In the midst of this crisis, you and I are designed to be walking treasure-chests, carrying nothing less than the priceless treasure of the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus (v6).

One of the first Christian bishops was known as Ignatius Theophorus which means Ignatius the God-bearer. We too are called to be God-bearers, not panic-bearers.

Gaze on the face of Jesus and panic flees. His love sends it packing.

Gaze on the face of Jesus and instead of grabbing the last item on the shelf, we'll want to give it away. Our Jesus always gives himself away. That’s why when plague took hold, the early Christians cared so self-sacrificially for the sick and showed them the face of Jesus.

This treasure is for sharing. On my last online shop (when there were still slots), I ordered daffodils which arrived unopened. Connor helped unpack the shop. The next day, I found the daffs in the fridge because he thought they were leeks! Imagine if they’d stayed there in the cold and dark - they would never have opened.

The light of Christ must not be hidden. He is the treasure who the 17th century writer, Thomas Brooks, described as, “a jewel of more worth than a thousand worlds, as all know who have him. Get him and get all; miss him and miss all.”

How can we share Jesus rather than the virus of panic in the coming weeks? Is there an isolated neighbour who would value a phone-call and some shopping dropped at the door? What does it look like for us to be God-bearers?

With thanks to Anita Sue of Unsplash