4 Important Truths I Learned In Quarantine

I really didn’t want to write another post on anything Covid-related. In fact, I’m almost to the point where I feel like plugging my ears whenever I hear anything concerning coronavirus. But recently a friend gently asked me, “what blessings have you experienced during quarantine that you wouldn’t have had otherwise?” And it got me thinking.

I may be frustrated by our shelter-in-place order, but was I missing out on the miracles just because of my frustration?

Turns out, I was. After spending time thinking through things, I realized that the Lord was clearly showing me 4 important truths in all of this, truths that I should have known even before the quarantine but which have especially hit home in the past few weeks.

I am not in control

This one should have come as no surprise. Over and over, God tells us in His Word that He is God, He is sovereign, and He is in control. And while I have known this on a surface level, there is a huge part of me that pretends that I actually do have some semblance of control over my life.

I worry and fret over things, assuming that God will feel sorry for me and my pining and will give me whatever it is that I’m anxious about. I make plans and then plead with the Lord to allow them to come to fruition, wrongly convincing myself that if God is loving, He’ll have to allow them to go through.

All of these are my vain attempts to reassure myself that I can dictate certain aspects of my life, that perhaps I really do hold a shred of control. The hard truth of it all is that lying to myself that I’m in control, that God only loves me if He allows my hopes and dreams to take place, is flat-out sin. And this quarantine is showing me that mankind truly has no control outside that which the Lord has graciously given us. It’s a lesson I hope I don’t soon forget.

Introverts are made for community, too

As frustrating as I now find the lockdown to be (I’m really missing my extended family and our church friends, and I honestly feel like my freedoms have been taken advantage of), I was actually kind of looking forward to it when it was first announced. Since Jon already worked from home and since we’ve homeschooled the kids from the beginning, there wasn’t going to be major upheaval for our family. The opportunity to stay at home without the pressures of field trips, play dates, and other obligations sounded quite appealing. (Note that I actually love school gatherings, educational outings, and the obligations we’d committed to; but as an introvert, a short breather also sounded quite lovely!)

But there was something I’d not taken into account: God designed all of us, introverts and extroverts alike, for community. To be prohibited from spending Saturdays at the beach, from taking day trips to see my folks, and from meeting in person with our church community was devastating. Although I need doses of people to be in small batches and for short durations, I have missed “my people” far more than I would ever have thought possible.

There are 2 sides to every situation

I have seen and heard from hundreds of people who are scared out of their minds about Covid. From the haz-mat-style face shields to avoiding all human interaction, it’s clear that a great many people are so afraid of getting sick that they’ve gone to extreme measures in an attempt to keep themselves safe.

All of this has made me realize that in every situation, there are at least 2 different sides. While many people are terrified of the virus, others are just as panicked about job loss and starvation. By closing down the country to prevent the spread of disease, the result is the loss of millions of jobs, which is also equally frightening. And our government officials are left trying to decide which is the bigger threat - the virus or economic collapse.

I hate admitting it, but I get really caught up in my own head, often neglecting to consider alternative viewpoints or differing opinions. Seeing the various sides of the argument over the quarantine helped me to better understand that there are almost always 2 (or more) sides to each situation. And while there is never any variation on truth, when it comes to lesser matters, there may not always be one exactly right and one exactly wrong viewpoint. If I can learn to look at things from other people’s perspectives, it will go a long way toward loving and empathizing with others just as Jesus did.

It is good to suffer

Bear with me for a minute. While I could never advocate or condone deliberately-inflicted suffering (sadly, I’ve actually heard of people doing this), I do believe that the Bible teaches that God can use suffering for our good, to help us to become more Christlike, and to help us overcome deeply rooted sin in our lives. While suffering is never fun and while we should never willingly inflict pain - physical or emotional - it’s usually during the most difficult seasons in life that we experience the greatest spiritual and personal growth.

That doesn’t mean the experience is pleasant, but we often come away from a trial understanding that it’s made us stronger, taught us lessons, and given us unexpected gifts that, if given the opportunity, we wouldn’t want to return, not even if it meant not having had to endure the tough times.

The spark plugs and I have been reading Rilla Of Ingleside aloud during the day. A dialogue between Rilla and her teacher Miss Oliver summed things up so clearly:

"Would you exchange [the difficult 2 years of war]--now--for two years filled with fun?" [Miss Oliver asked.] "No," said Rilla slowly. "I wouldn't. It's strange--isn't it?--They have been two terrible years--and yet I have a queer feeling of thankfulness for them--as if they had brought me something very precious, with all their pain. I wouldn't want to go back and be the girl I was two years ago, not even if I could. Not that I think I've made any wonderful progress--but I'm not quite the selfish, frivolous little doll I was then. I suppose I had a soul then, Miss Oliver--but I didn't know it. I know it now--and that is worth a great deal--worth all the suffering of the past two years. And still"--Rilla gave a little apologetic laugh, “I don’t want to suffer anymore, not even for the sake of more soul growth. At the end of two more years I might look back and be thankful for the development they had brought me, too; but I don’t want it now.”

-L.M. Montgomery, “Rilla Of Ingleside”

Personally, I don’t care much at all for the quarantine. As an introvert, I feel like I can never get away and have some space to myself because my family is in my face all.the.time. I don’t love the state of panic that seems so prevalent. There is much I don’t love about the entire situation.

And yet, I have seen good. I have seen strangers step out in kindness. I have seen families connecting with one another like never before. If I’m careful to watch for Him, I can see Jesus in it all.

As a result of the quarantine, I’ve learned all over again just how much I am not in control. I’ve come to realize just how much introverts are created for community. I’ve seen that there are two sides to nearly every situation. And I’ve learned to suffer well. Those are lessons I don’t want to give up, and if I had to choose between learning them during a quarantine or avoiding the discomfort, I’d opt to learn the lessons.

Your turn: How has the quarantine impacted you? What lessons have you learned from it, and how are you coping with all the changes?