“Summertime and the livin’ is easy”, sang Ella Fitzgerald.
This is probably one summer we will never forget, a summer where life has been anything but easy. Because of Covid-19, we’re all busy re-planning the summer we might have had. Parties and barbeques are off the agenda. Holidays abroad and time on sunny beaches are something we might consider later...perhaps.
It’s been very difficult, especially for all those who were planning summer weddings. I even heard someone say, “let’s just forget about 2020 and concentrate on 2021”.
Jesus said that the Christian life was an “abundant life” (John 10:10). In other words, a life overflowing with all the good things that God wants. In the midst of a summer flattened by Covid-19, I’ve had to ask myself ‘how can we live abundantly?’ Should we just forget this year?
The answer, perhaps, lies in what we think an “abundant life” means. We might think it means a life without pain, a life living in the house of our dreams, or perhaps even a life of pleasure. A life where the livin’ is easy.
The Christian view, though, is not that life will be easy but that it will be better with God. Living abundantly is not about living without trouble or hardship. It’s not about wiping out this year and starting again. It’s about living with God at the centre.
God gives us strength when we feel fed up, speaks comfort to us in our weariness and encourages us to keep going when we’ve had enough. It might sound odd but inviting God in to whatever circumstances we face is the way to live well in these circumstances. It is with God beside us we can feel better. Through the lens of faith, we may even start to feel that life holds good things for us, despite our plans for the summer being so badly interrupted.
May you experience God with you, whatever the summer holds for you.
Every blessing
Angela