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A Gen Zer's message of hope amid quarantine loneliness

Gabrielle Odom
Gabrielle Odom | Instagram.com/helloitsbrie via screenshot

As we continue to stay home in an attempt to slow down the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), many of us are feeling isolated. We can no longer go to our workplaces, churches, gyms, favorite coffee shops—you name it. Consequently, we are cut off from regular face-to-face interaction with others. We are beginning to realize how desperately we need relationships.

At the very beginning of creation, after breathing life into the first man, Adam, God declared: “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him” (Genesis 2:18 ESV). Shortly thereafter, God created the first woman, Eve.

Ponder God’s words for a minute: “It is not good for man to be alone.” The God who created us meant for us to live in community as he himself does: he exists in a Trinity. It is not God’s intent for humans to live in permanent isolation from one another. Isolation is a result of living in a broken world.

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We also see in Genesis that God designed humans to be in relationship with himself. After Adam and Eve sinned against God by listening to the voice of the Serpent and eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they hid from God. Genesis 3:8 tells us, “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden” (NIV). Although the author of Genesis does not elaborate on what God’s walking in the garden was like, we can infer from this verse that God spent time in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. He desired to commune with his creations. Tragically, Adam and Eve’s sin broke that communion and literally caused them to be separated from God.

Now, let’s skip ahead to John 3. Jesus, the Son of God who is one with God, has come down to Earth to restore what has been lost.

In John 3, we find Jesus speaking to a man named Nicodemus, a Pharisee who was curious about the Kingdom of God. Jesus says to Nicodemus, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him” (NLT). Jesus told Nicodemus about a God who would give his own Son so that his creations could be restored to fellowship with him.

This is our hope in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic when we feel that we cannot bear the loneliness any longer.

In this season of isolation, I want to remind you that you are not alone, though your feelings may say otherwise. I encourage you to reflect on these three things as you spend time at home:

1. Check your heart.

Examining our hearts can be uncomfortable. There are some things in our hearts that we would rather not think about or deal with. But I want you to ask yourself these questions: Do I know Jesus? Do I love him? Do I follow him?

If you find yourself saying “no” in response to any of these questions, pause and reflect on the fact that while you were stuck in your sin, God sent his Son to die for you. Draw near to Jesus, and he will draw near to you (James 4:8). He wants to have a relationship with you!

2. Surrender to Jesus.

The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 10:9-10, “... if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (ESV).

If you surrender to Jesus and confess that he is Lord, and believe in his bodily resurrection, then you will be saved! You will become one of God’s children, restored to a relationship with him. This is for today. Yes, Jesus saves you for eternity, but he saves you for today, too.

3. Seek to Share Jesus.

If you are already a follower of Jesus, then you know that true hope is only found in Jesus. We are in the midst of a season where many people are wrestling with their own mortality. They are scared. During this time of isolation, reach out to the people in your life who don’t know Jesus. Call them on FaceTime, send them a text, or write them a letter. Let them know that they don’t have to go through life alone.

All over the world, people are yearning for relationships, for connection with something or someone outside of themselves. We can distract ourselves with our phones, games, books, movies, social media, online dating, online shopping, eating and exercise during this period of isolation, but at the end of the day, our hearts have a hole that only Jesus can fill. We are not made to be alone.

You can watch more of my message of hope on evangelist Nick Hall’s Christians in Quarantine show here on Instagram.  

Gabrielle Odom is a Gen Z influencer who is intensely passionate about sharing Jesus with others in her generation. She is a co-host of the new Same Team podcast, which aims to engage members of Gen Z via conversations on topics such as dating, mental health, the Enneagram and more. She is a regular guest speaker with PULSE, a ministry at the center of the largest millennial-led prayer and outreach efforts in the world. She is also a speaker with HowToLife Movement Minnesota. 

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