Written by Michelle J. Goff
I have a love/hate relationship with the expression “new normal.” I’m not sure I ever understood “old normal” either, but with a New Year and a strong desire to put many aspects of 2020 behind us, I offer this explanation and encouragement.
After a perfect storm in my gut back in 2009, I had to establish a new normal in the kitchen and make significant changes regarding my food consumption.
Friends are expecting a new baby, their first, and new normal will be in a constant state of flux for the next 18 years!
After the word “cancer” escapes the doctor’s lips, time stands still until the patient and her family can begin to process new normal.
Other friends got married in 2020 and think it was the best year ever! How about their new normal?
On the other hand, in 2020, while the world was reeling from a global pandemic, hurricanes ravaged Central America and the Gulf Coast. New normal will not be reestablished for months or years in some areas where bridges were washed out and roads need to be rebuilt.
Feelings of isolation, helplessness, anxiety, and depression have become a new normal for many who have struggled to deal with the constant blows dealt them, especially in the year 2020.
If there is one thing we can count on not to change, it is the fact that things will always change.
The more things change, the more they remain the same.
I do not know to whom we can attribute the two preceding quotes. However, they remind me of Solomon’s words in Ecclesiastes.
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Ecc. 3:1, ESV).
Solomon follows this introduction with a list of things that there is a time for… to be born and to die, to plant and to harvest, to seek and to lose (which may happen multiple times in a day). Everyone is in a constant navigation of “new normal.”
However, the expression that sticks out to me right now is from the second part of verse 5, “A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing.” My love language is not physical touch, but I am really missing the hugs and the smiling faces on Sunday mornings.
New normal for Sunday morning church gatherings may be virtual, but it has allowed me to “gather” with Christians all across the world in Bible study, prayer meetings, and Sunday church services. I kinda like that version of new normal.
When Jesus came to earth and experienced a true new normal, starting out as a helpless, vulnerable baby, His life became the hope of a true new normal in His name.
The religious leaders didn’t know what to make of this teacher that taught as one who had authority. New normal for the demons was a grim prospect. And when we get to the moment of His crucifixion, there was everything new and nothing normal about His resurrection!
Oh, what a blessing to have the hope of a new life, a new normal, in Christ! What a joy to anticipate a new normal in heaven where there will be no more night, no more sadness, no more illness…
For everything there is a season… and I am thrilled to know that Christ walks with me during the challenges of any new normal season here on earth, until we can join with Him forever in heaven!
What has your new normal looked like recently?
How have you seen Christ walk with you in your new normal?
What does the reminder of a new normal awaiting you in heaven do for you?