There is no doubt its tough.
My family are distant from me, Germany, and Lincolnshire.
Close friends distanced by Covid 19.
The pub distanced by Covid guidelines.
I need the interaction of my family; I want the interaction of my family.
I need the interaction of friends; I want the interaction of my friends.
Tier 4 just blows the wind in the wrong direction; my candle is spluttering…
That’s what it feels like. And because it’s a feeling thing I am affected day by day by those things I want to do, need to do and desire to do; playing a round of golf with grandson 3 (G3) who has just started to play, sitting with G1 struggling both with the academic challenge and huge adolescent growth spurt’ G3 is growing and so is the distance between us. Life for the family is tough and I am having to tough it out. This stranglehold of Covid19 to me is personal, but it is also bigger than that, it has created distance between me and others; this includes my role in church and the demands that are placed on me by church folks.
I heard someone say the other day an expression that I do not like, ‘You have to man up’. When asked what he meant by this his reply was, ‘Its tough love isn’t it?’ Tough love: I’ve heard that somewhere before… but in this case it wasn’t said as a statement of genuine caring, loving, joyous upholding love, no it was the rough masculine, ‘get on with it, stop whimpering, get over it.’ Lots of replies filtered through my mind but I didn’t pursue it because our understanding of ‘Tough Love, is completely different to one another. There will be another time for me to catch up and share some of God’s love with tough love guy.
What it did do was to remind me that sometimes God uses external devices to shape and change those who seek to live under their own rules and ignore the purpose of a Kingdom God sending his son Jesus to die on a cross in our stead. That is tough Love. I’m not a bible historian but I believe that on more than one occasion God used invading armies to take Israel into captivity because of their disobedience. It was his love for the people that made him exercise Tough Love. You can read a bit about it in the Old Testament, Jeremiah Chapter 29, verse 10. His people were under Babylonian rule. It’s a bit like living under Covid19, we are not free to be the people God intended us to be. But look further into what Jeremiah said from verse 10 to 14.
“I will come to you and fulfil my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord.”
And Father God has exercised Tough Love by allowing Jesus to come and show me and you how love works. So much pointed to Jesus coming, the purpose of his coming was to bridge the gap between God and us, yes it was tough. As I long to bridge the gap between myself and my family, at the moment its tough. But it will not stay that way.
Last thoughts
Joseph, Jesus earthly dad, had an angel of the Lord spoke to him in a dream and Joseph owned what it meant to be the human, earthly dad for Jesus. Tough Love. He took responsibility and got on with it.
But:
When an angel visited Zechariah (to tell of the birth of John), the angel terrified him,
Mary was greatly troubled by an angel visiting her
The shepherd were terrified… each had to reflect and come to terms what it meant and thankfully gave Glory to Father God.
Image Credit: Kieran White
