I Am Sorry!

woman with a stressful look at a man holding a poster with coronavirus text
Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

Yesterday when I was talking to my mom on the phone the Holy Spirit convicted me.

I have been incredibly selfish and self-centered and I need to make a public apology to my mom and to all the people out there, especially those who are older, who are physically alone right now in this time of quarantine, social distancing and stay at home orders due to COVID-19.

  •  I am sorry for not apprecating human presence
  •  I am sorry for not appreciating human touch

To say to those who are alone right now, “Jesus is with you” sounds so trite and unencouraging to me. I hate and I mean hate when I hear people say to someone who is suffering or homeless that “Jesus loves you!” and just walks away.  What does this love of Jesus mean to someone who is suffering? What does it mean that you will always have a home with Jesus? What in this time of COVID-19 does it mean that Jesus will never leave you nor forsake you when everything is a mess and is upside down?

Ultimately, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:14-17 ESV).

My challenge to myself and all of us is to truly consider others in this time. For those who have children that are home and driving you crazy, consider those who do not have children and would love to have that problem. Whatever social/relationship situation we are in right now, may we consider those in the opposite.

I am thankful that God does not play favorites. I am thankful that God does not change.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (2 Cor 1:3–4 NIV).

I am a hugger by nature, and right now, dear reader, I am giving you a VERY big hug. May we not allow this pandemic to alter us to the point where we will cease human contact and touch out of fear of the next virus.

Father God, I am sorry for once again losing focus and sight of You. I am sorry for the way that I have grumbled and complained. Lord God, thank You for the medical professionals and grocery store workers who are putting themselves at risk. Lord God, give political leaders all over the world wisdom and common sense when it comes to dealing with this pandemic. Lord God, thank You that You are God and that You are here whether we feel it or not. Lord God, speak to each one of us as to how we our faith can be manifested in action during this time of COVID-19. Lord God, prepare our hearts for Easter. In Jesus’s Name I pray. Amen.

 

 

Published by

Blue Collar Theologian

My name is Mandy Sweigart-Quinn, I live in Lancaster, PA and I am a “Blue Collar Theologian.” I love Jesus! I am passionate about His Word (The Holy Bible)! I come alive when I can encourage others in their walk with Jesus (whether by writing or speaking). As a “Blue Collar Theologian” it is my aim to live/practice/work out my Christian hope with sincerity, authenticity and genuineness. As a “Blue Collar Theologian,” I strive to meet people right where they are (“Incarnational Theology”). I graduated in May 2019 from Capital Seminary and Graduate School with a Master's in Biblical Studies. I am a passionate, excited and enthusiastic person! I love flowers, sports and sunsets. Since January 2, 2018 I have had the privilege of being married to Nathan.

28 thoughts on “I Am Sorry!”

  1. Dear Mandy. There is hard, solid evidence that it was the Spirit of the Lord which moved you to these words. They speak like Jesus spoke/speaks. Big Texas hug from me. Happy Easter as we shake the dust off of us all. – Alan

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. Hi Mandy. I’m one of those “open-book” people; you can ask me anything you want. Yes indeed!! My son, daughter-in-law, and grandson are just 25 miles away. I spent 11 hours with them BOTH Saturday and Sunday. All those hours playing with a 3+ year old put a major hurting on my 62-year-old bones! Thank you for asking!

        By the way, are you on Facebook? If so, please send me an invite: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009036475074

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Praise God, I have really been praying and worried for you with that! I grieve that my mom is in FL, I begged her to come here to not be alone but that’s her home. Nathan and I were going to drive down and spend some time with her but then the three of us decided it was better to wait. As my mom says, she knows Jesus as her Lord and Savior so if anything were to happen to her we can all know she is with Jesus. I just grieve that she’s alone! Anyway, I am also an open-book; however, succinctness isn’t my strength! David, please don’t give up on me!! I appreciate you are succinct, direct and to the point. Academia I am succinct, personal life no way! Again, please don’t give up on me!!!

        Liked by 1 person

  4. Heeding to your call of action Mandy; taking cue from James. I 👍 your 🙏 and praying too that GOD will impart wisdom and common sense to those decision/policy makers, giving them the right mind in crafting strategies to recover from this pandemic. GOD bless!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. Not a chance for now Mandy, as number of cases rise everyday. The lockdown is extended for 2 weeks plus (and maybe a modified version of the lockdown migth be declared after; hoping that the bell curb in terms of cases might be flatten by May or June. I like your prayer of asking common sense for world leaders.

        Liked by 2 people

  5. Just noticed something. In your “Meet the author section,” you have “Since January 2, 2018 I have had the privilege of being married to Nathan” written twice. So much for my copy-editing duties for the day!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. I cried my way through this blog article because I have felt the same way. Maybe I have some reason for the tears as well as needing forgiveness for my selfish waywardness. I am thankful that I am not literally alone – that I do have my husband. But I do grieve and feel panicky sometimes because my son has abandoned us, now for several years. Satan got a foothold in our family and it is so strong that no matter what we do to get reconciliation it will not work. I pray that during this time of suffering and fear that God will convict my son’s heart and he will be brought back to the Lord, not just to us, but back to what God wants him to do. I pray that God will send a revival. This is a time when God’s Spirit can work in people’s hearts. It’s a time when forgiveness needs to be practiced and the love of God needs to lead in all our lives. God is allowing Corona for a reason. God bless His people, and may many who need Jesus find Him as their Savior.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Hi, Mary. Thank you for your time and for sharing this part of you with me/us. I had tears writing this. I am praying for hearts to be stirred and turned toward Christ. I empathize with your familial situation, it is not easy. I am sending lots of love and prayers your way. Thank you again for sharing.

      Like

      Reply

  7. I feel for people who are all alone, especially for those in nursing homes who are not allowed to have visitors anymore, unless they are at death’s door. But, we didn’t do this. We didn’t cause this. We didn’t choose to social distance from everyone else on this planet. This was forced upon us. So, my feelings for them are not trite nor are they lacking in compassion.

    But, as long as we are under severe orders to not leave our homes unless for necessities, or in our case presently we can visit family who are not afraid to visit with us, we, as a people of this nation, if we obey the governing authorities, can’t go visit those people who are alone who are not related to us unless we are their caretakers. But, there must be exceptions for neighbors who are alone, I would think.

    The rules keep changing, and they are different in different places, too, so it hard to know exactly, sometimes, what we are allowed to do and what we aren’t. I think now we are under strict orders to stay home unless we are exercising or buying essentials or visiting family. So, we have to do our encouraging online, mostly. And, we have to give virtual hugs rather than the real ones we would love to give.

    But, I do think about elderly people who may not have internet. I don’t know any personally, but I know they must exist. I wonder how they are doing in all of this, for it is confusing, and it keeps changing. It must be very upsetting for them.

    Right now, all I know that we can do is we can socialize with people online, and we can encourage them that way. We can ask how they are doing, talk with them about what is on their minds, share songs, poems, words of encouragement with them, and humor, too. Our family shares humor with each other a lot. It helps!

    But, I miss getting together with all my kids and with all my grandkids. We do keep in touch on the internet, or by phone, but it is not the same as in person. And, I miss visiting friends and family, especially those who don’t live near us.

    It is definitely a huge change. And, we do need to think about how others are being impacted by this, and we need to pray for sensitivity to know how we can encourage them, too. So, thank you for your encouraging words here, Mandy. 🙂

    Like

    Reply

      2. Hi there Mandy, I truly get a kick out of reading fellow saints blogs. It encourages and inspires me to endeavour to try harder in my walk with Him. So folks like you and Andy are precious to this seeker. God is especially good to us today…the sun is out😁. We are blessed in many ways, for which all the honour goes to Him.

        Liked by 2 people

  9. A very thoughtful post which holds truth for every day. Such humility requires true bravery knowing that our Father can deal with whatever we do, or don’t do as well. We are works in progress sister, you obviously are coming along well. God bless you.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s