Many of us probably have very different thoughts and expectations of what 2020 should have looked like. We all made plans, but most of those plans were disrupted by COVID: some would say that this virus has been one big distraction. We are forced to reflect, re-evaluate and re-adjust our plans. We either fight it, or we just get on and hopefully have the agility to adapt to this “new normal.”
I must say, schedule wise, lockdown probably made me more busy with multiple Zoom meetings across different time zones. I was also part of facilitating a Leadership Encounter we put together for our younger leaders at our YWAM Base with about 30 people for two weeks. As there was a hunger for it we felt the need to run another one which was more international in scope. Initially, I thought maybe 100 participants, but to my surprise and amazement about 500 people registered, representing 70 countries for the Global Leadership Encounter which we ran via Zoom for three weeks. It was quite a bit of work but it is always worth it. It’s such a privilege to be a part of what the Lord is doing in the nations, and to witness the potential multiplication and impact. 
At the beginning of lockdown the scripture from Habakkuk 1:5 kept coming to mind. This season requires us to LOOK, SEE, WONDER and be AMAZED! God is doing things in our days! Many times we’re not aware of it or we’re not paying attention to what God is saying and doing in our days. In the midst of global chaos God is also at work, for He is aligning our hearts and agendas to His. God is always committed and faithful to His plans and purposes, even when we are not. I really believe that this is a season where God is speeding many things up, with or without our engagement! But in His generosity and goodness to us He has invited us in to join with Him. It is always up to us. Will we continue to live the way we are used to, or will we allow Him to align us to His ways and agendas? If we chose to engage we must fully participate and be submitted to His ways, for God’s work must be done God’s ways.
One thing I learned as I seriously considered God’s invitation is that it comes with battles. I remember one of our mission leaders shared that the moment we step into God’s calling we are declaring spiritual warfare to the enemy. We have an enemy whose agenda is to always to kill, steal and destroy.
But the greater reality is that we have the full armour of God, and we have to fight from a place of victory, as Jesus has already won it all for us. I need to continue to learn to walk in God’s truth and not the lies of the enemy. I’m thankful for friends who always point me to Jesus when I’m losing perspective.
Despite lockdown I think I’m doing pretty well for the most part. However, I’ve had my low moments – like many others probably. As many of you know, I am a highly relational person and I have deep friends all over the world with whom I normally visit and spend time in my nomadic life. Although I embrace and make the most of technology, nothing can really replace fellowshipping in person with your closest friends. My love language is Quality Time and Words so you can really only have so much of that via technology. Running and hiking has been a good outlet for me in the absence of this, and to learn to have those quality times – receiving those words from the Lord Himself during my times with Him.
With all the spiritual highs, there were times when I also felt so alone. After a seven-day fast last month (with really good moments with Jesus), for some reason I felt so down and defeated the next day. I was challenged to either keep going and fake it (as I was in a program I was facilitating) or deal with my heart and be hidden. I had to make sure that I wasn’t withdrawing and isolating, though maybe there was some of that too. I had to check in with the Lord as to what was going on in my heart and the roots of it. God used that time to show me many things.
At times we have to come to the desert to find ourselves there and to get to know ourselves better and, most importantly, to just be WITH GOD! Sometimes He leads us in times where we don’t schedule, and He allow situations where we go into almost forced SOLITUDE! And I had that. I needed to just be by myself that week, so I ended up doing a seven hour hike in the mountains by myself. 
It was nice to verbally process with the Lord and able to worship on the mountain top, and scream my heart out! Cape Town’s Table Mountain is normally busy, but in my day hike I met less than 20 people, and only two others at Table Mountain peak – which was also a blessing. From the top of Table Mountain I walked down to Camps Bay through Kasteelspoort – having never taken that trail before. I was hoping I was following the right trail as I didn’t download a map! There were sections of that hike where I went through a valley with only rocks and bushes around me. During those moments I felt really alone and scared. As I talked honestly to the Lord it was probably a highlight last month to hear Him say “Sometimes life is like that, you go through valleys and you feel alone, and at times you’re by yourself but that is not the truth, for I am with you always.” That brought lots of encouragement to me. 
The Lord also spoke to me in that week through the passage of Revelation 2 where He address the church in Ephesus. Though all are good qualities (and should reflect in our lives as a Christian as a hard worker, enduring patiently and hating evil) it must never come at the expense of forgetting our first love. Rather, those qualities have to be an outflow of our intimacy with Jesus. I don’t think I’d forgotten my first love, but there is the danger of slipping there if I’m not careful, or not prioritizing regular times of solitude to do soul seaching and spending time with Him.
Seasons, Situations, Places and People might change and there will be many moments of uncertainty as we navigate this side of eternity, but God is always constant and consistent – this never changes. He always understand us and we can be completely honest and real with Him where we are at, and He is never too busy to be with us: we are His highest priority. Others might be there for us, but in the end only God truly understand us and is present in every season of our lives, and will always have our best interests in mind for us.
May we grow in our trust and dependence on Him, and may He always be our highest priority. Let’s continue to look to him and see things in perspective!