Thrive Not Survive

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Philippians 4:13  

Like most of America I have watched and listened with much interest this past month as people share life in the midst of this global pandemic. It appears for the most part people are hanging in there, making the best of a bad situation. I am so very thankful for the thousands of bible passages and quotes and meme’s that have been shared just since this global pandemic hit with the hope of encouraging one another as we continue in the battle against this invisible enemy. If I have heard it once I have heard it a thousand times, “we will get through this together.” Like you, I need and appreciate being reminded that we are not alone in this. Though we may feel alone at times as we “shelter in place” and practice “social distancing” from those we love, its good to remind each other there will be an end to this somewhere down the road.

But what if the purpose behind all this wasn’t for us to survive at all. What if the reason we have all been allowed to go through this global pandemic was so that we would learn to thrive! A survivalist mentality is sad in so many ways because it promotes an ideology of loss. Someone who is just trying to survive isn’t focused on any quality of life, they are just trying to stay alive. With every second that passes for the survivalist, that is time lost that can never be recovered. I can promise you this, God’s heart for you and I isn’t that we would just survive this global pandemic but that we would come out the other side refined, more in tune and touch with Him on a day to day basis, His plans and purposes for our lives along with a deeper love and devotion to the world at large as well as those we love. In other words, God wants us to thrive as we go forward from the Coronavirus.  

You might be thinking how do I know this is God’s heart, His will for our lives that we thrive? The answers easy, it’s in His Word. The apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” In Jesus its always upward and onward! Just consider what Paul writes in Philippians 1:6, “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Jesus for sure doesn’t have the thought “survive” in His mind as He works in our lives. It’s very clear God wants us to thrive! 

Often times in life we settle for so much less than what the Lord has for us. Job pointed this out when he said, “He does great things past finding out, Yes, wonders without number” (Job 9:10). If there is one lesson we have learned this past month it’s that our fears tend to immobilize us, whereas our faith in God empowers and emboldens us. Live in fear and your focus is survival. Live and walk by faith and you will flourish as you thrive! It’s no secret, for the follower of Jesus our best days are always in front of us.

There is an old saying that has come to mind more than once since the Coronavirus hit, “when you are going through hell, keep going.” Thats a good word for us today! Keep going, keep growing and never forget that the best is still yet to be! So plan for it, pray for it, believe it and make preparations for it and sooner than you know, you will possess all that the Lord has stored up for you!


“But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him."

1 Corinthians 2:9

I LOVE YOU!