"The Coronavirus Blues”

“The Coronavirus Blues”

April 19, 2020

1 Kings 19:1-18

Last week I woke up one night about 3:o’clock in the morning feeling overwhelmed. I suppose I felt a little like Elijah did. I have had to do it all since this Coronavirus plague hit us. Mow the lawn, clean the church, do the music, preach the sermon and anything else that is necessary. I was feeling burned out. I had the Coronavirus blues! I wish I knew how to get the board together via skype or facetime or zoom. I haven’t learned how to do that yet. And I was missing our boardmembers, the backbone of our church, and my dear friends. We have continued to meet each Sunday, believe in God’s providence and protection, but not all could. And I miss them. Those with the courage and faith that continue to come each Sunday are so appreciated and encouraging to me – but I miss our entire Church family. It was getting me down. I got up to pray and seek God. In just a short time, He calmed my soul, impressed a few thoughts on me and I was able to go back to bed and get a little sleep.

What I did was write God a note. I said I miss my friends; I miss not meeting with the Board; I am stressed because I don’t know how to zoom; I am stressed and overwhelmed because of too big of a work load. There is too much for one person to do. And I am tired of the physical pain I have to deal with.

God seemed to say, “No, you can’t do everything - but you can do something. You can be faithful.” And I wrote down what to do. 1. Pray. 2. Read the Scripture promises, and 3. Walk. (Physical exercise) Romans 15: 4 says,

“everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”

If you want to be encouraged; if you want endurance for the race; if you want to have hope – read the Scriptures. Well, I do that every day. That’s where I get the strength to go on. But I need to do it even more and make it personal. It is so important especially if you are quarantined at home.

Years ago on a TV show, a guest appeared that was a body builder. As he entered the stage with his huge muscular body the crowd went crazy as the body builder began to flex his muscles and show his power. The first question asked of him was this: “What do you use all those muscles for?” Without answering, the body builder again stood up and began flexing his muscles while the crowd cheered wildly.

A second time, the question was asked, “What do you do with those muscles?” Again, the body builder flexed his muscles and the crowd became almost ecstatic. After asking three times, “What do you do with all those muscles?” the body builder just sat in silence. He had no answers. The man was all power but his power had no purpose other than to show off and bring attention to himself.

Sometime after that, I was channel surfing and stopped for a moment on a show called “The Man Whose Arm Blew Up”. It was about a guy who took steroids to build up his muscles. He was so successful at it that his arms were as big as my thighs. Unfortunately, getting that big had consequences – and they weren’t all good. One of his arms literally blew apart. His purpose was to have the biggest arms in the world. He succeeded – but realized a little late that it wasn’t much of a purpose.

I was read somewhere that ten percent of the British people believe they would be better off dead, according to a survey. One in four people said they were unhappy in their jobs, while one in three felt exhausted, unappreciated, or underpaid. I think it would be about the same here.

Christine Webber, the psychotherapist who did the survey, said: "Sadly, it comes as no surprise to me that so many people are unhappy at home and work. It seems that people’s lives do not live up to their extremely high expectations. It is particularly worrying to see so many people dwelling on morbid thoughts, with a large proportion just plainly exhausted by life."

Some of you older folks may remember a song called “Alfie”. I never cared too much about the song, but the first line always got my attention. It goes:

“What’s it all about, Alfie? Is it just for the moment we live? What’s it all about when you sort it out, Alfie?”