2020 Vision: The Reality We Weren’t Ready For
With every new year comes the hope for a better future. For some, it’s the promise of financial gain, the hope of finding true love, or the year you will finally stop smoking. 2020 was supposed to be a year unlike any other; 2020 was supposed to be the year we all had “twenty-twenty” vision. This pun has been applied to extraordinary lengths, especially in religious circles, as is evident by the exhaustive amount of sermons on YouTube entitled “20/20: God’s vision for your life.”
But, the newness of hope quickly vanished as the Pandemic hit.
Our 20/20 vision was heightened as one very potent virus weakened our country to its knees revealing infrastructural obstacles. Our 20/20 vision was also weakened as face shields had to be worn to protect those who were risking everything to save others.
2020 revealed just how valuable our teachers are, and that teaching our very active children is more difficult than we knew.
2020 revealed that those making minimum wage in a grocery story, and not enough to live on, are the heartbeat of our nation and the workers we need to survive.
2020 revealed the racism that is real and ashamedly prevalent in our country.
2020 revealed just how much we spend on eating out.
2020 revealed that our defense mechanism is to hoard cleaning supplies - or maybe 2020 revealed just how dirty our homes were, and that it was time to take care of what we have been given.
2020 did give us 20/20 vision, and it was ugly.
The virus killed, racism killed, fear killed, jealousy killed, selfishness killed.
As people are being violently murdered and as people who are scared are violently responding, it seems a civil war for justice is on the verge.
Here’s the real wake-up call. We are already in a war - a spiritual war rampaging through our streets, our homes, our justice system, and within ourselves. And we are not prepared.
Satan wants us to get distracted with everything else in the world so our hearts can stay far away from God. He wants us to fight, but fight from a weakened point, without God. He knows that if we try by ourselves to fight a pandemic, to fight social injustices, to fight the uphill climb to fix our economy we WILL FAIL!
But there is good news: God is trying to fight for us!
He has given us the privilege of being a part of His plan and is waiting for His people to share a message of love and not hate.
Most importantly, He will not make us love. This love must be a choice.
Love cannot be dictated or forced. The government cannot make a Christian people no matter how many laws they pass. It is only by the self-sacrificing love that each person individually chooses, that this battle will be won.
And God in His infinite wisdom and love tells us to prepare for battle as He guides us!
How do we take our stand?
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
Who is responsible?
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
What do we need?
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
Ephesians 6:10-18 NIV
https://www.bible.com/111/eph.6.10-18.niv
Pray that God reveals to you where you are weak. Maybe you have biases against those of a different race, or those of a different religion, or possibly even a different weight. There are also tools from Harvard that can help you identify your own biases:
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html
Understand that these wars are spiritual; therefore, they must be won spiritually.
Just as physical protection from this virus can be worn such as face shields, and just as an earthly virus can be fought with hand washing, we need to understand that a spiritual battle needs to be fought with spiritual tools.
Put on the armor of God: Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, and the Spirit/Word of God.
And with this armor, and with God’s blessing, begin to fight for justice in love.
Because true 20/20 vision comes only from love.
God.Is.Love