All within a week or two's time, so many lives have been flipped upside down. The world has claimed a global outbreak, the United States has declared a state of emergency, and just about everything is canceled. The shelves on the grocery stores are bare, whether you will receive a paycheck is still up in the air, and you don't know what else may lie ahead. All of these are intimidating factors and probably nothing many of us have ever had to deal with before. I'm a strong believer in "everything happens for a reason," and I think this worldwide pandemic is a perfect example of this. What if God is using this difficult time deliberately for all of His people?

Within the past week, many important events have been canceled. Your favorite sporting events that you spent every night watching are canceled. That competition you've worked so hard for the past year is canceled. The sport you've poured your heart and soul into your entire life? Canceled. God is showing us that these things we fill our time up with are NOT what we need. He's forcing us to realize that we CAN survive without these events and people we idolize. There are too many instances in which we lose ourselves in something we want so badly. We dedicate all our time and focus to that sport or that one goal we so badly want to achieve. We lose ourselves striving to become like our idols that we forget who we're really supposed to be trying to live like. God is removing all of these distractions and allowing us to regain our focus back onto Him.

Within the past week, I have seen more peace amongst the madness than I have my entire twenty years on this Earth. I have seen more people come together to lend a helping hand to those in need. I have seen more people spending precious, quality time with their families. I have seen businesses and individuals go through extremes to provide for their customers, the less fortunate, and the elderly. I have seen more people exemplifying love, kindness, selflessness, and faithfulness. I have seen more people living exactly how we should every single day.

Right now, there is limited information that we know about COVID-19 and there is even more scarce information about where this virus will take us in the coming weeks. While the world is living in fear with little to no answers, God is pushing us to trust in Him. The majority of people are running to social media seeking answers that aren't there, yet we need to be running to the one who really is in control. The one who REALLY has the answers.

I have the words "rejoice always" tattooed on my wrist. I use this as a daily reminder to be thankful in whatever circumstances life throws at me because I know it's for a reason. I have looked to this verse so many times, and I believe even more so right now. Even in all this madness, there's something greater than we could ever imagine that is in the works. Everything happens for a reason.

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 New International Version).