April 2020 (COVID 19 Drama - Episode 2)

March 2020 ended with much anticipation that the pandemic will be controlled and the community quarantine will be lifted but it turned out to be otherwise.

I am truly thankful that my family was able to come together before the lockdown but my heart started to become restless with many questions. My first question was “How could I finish my work in school?”

The end of school year is usually the busiest season because of year-end documents, evaluations and reports. There is also the “overlapping” of planning and sending requests for the next school year. April 2020 was different. I finished working on all the paper works that my office assistant sent me while on quarantine but couldn’t move on. It was as if my computer suddenly froze and I just couldn’t do anything!

Hence, there was not much that I could do but to check the news each day. My heart kept sinking deeper to see the confirmed cases rising, the poor crying out for food and the sick gripping with fear. So I asked my second question “How could I help those in crisis?”

It has been a part of me to have this urgency in responding to people in need. For those in my team, I would find myself at their homes or in the hospital when they are in crisis.

After typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) hit the Phlippines, I found myself bringing a team from our school staff to Tacloban. We spent our Christmas 2013 distributing goods and conducting debriefing with children.

After the landslide in the City of Naga (Cebu), my only request as a birthday (2018) gift from the teachers was for them to join me in ministering to children in the evacuation areas.

April 2020, I sat there feeling helpless. If only I could put on my shoes and go out but I was not a nurse nor a doctor. I was physically locked down in our house with a very unsettled heart.

While asking God what I can do, He simply told me to stay still and wait. “Leave them to me because I can send others to do it.” Right at that moment, my heart settled and found peace.

Last week my husband told me: “Imagine how Jesus felt when he was stuck in the womb of Mary for 9 months!” Yes, he waited not only for 9 months to be born, but for another 30 years to grow up before he went around recruiting his disciples, performing miracles and preaching to thousands.

Jesus submitted himself to the natural course of human development and patiently waited.

Our waiting may not just be lining up in a grocery cashier, a traffic jam or a bank transaction. Waiting can be longing for a loved one to recover from illness, a relationship to heal, a drug addict to stop, a life partner to come, a skill to master, and for God to answer a long awaited prayer.

Waiting will always be a pain in the neck until we submit to wait. I waited to put on my shoes and stayed home.

Is your heart restless to do something? Are you getting impatient?

Remember: Only God can settle an unsettled heart.

Luke 5:16 English Standard Version (ESV)

16 But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

Psalm 27:14 English Standard Version (ESV)

14 Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!