What Christians Can Do During Quarantine Or Stay-At-Home Orders?

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When a Christian is placed under quarantine or has a stay-at-home order, what can they do? How can they serve God?

The Master’s Hands

It may be harder on single people than anyone else to be quarantined. That’s because they have no immediate support system and often live alone. If that’s the case, they have to depend on someone else to help them with things like picking up their prescriptions, groceries, or other essential errands, but that’s where members of the Body of Christ can step in. Traditionally, the local Baptist church has taken care of those who are shut-ins and those who are not able to attend worship services, but now they’ve extended their service to those who are quarantined or at high risk due to age or chronic health conditions of contracting the coronavirus. This is where we can practice what James called, “pure religion,” by keeping ourselves unspotted from the world, but also by “visiting the orphans and widows in their affliction” (James 1:27). Jesus once told His disciples that on the day of His return, He will tell His beloved, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me” (Matt 25:35-36). They may not have even realized at the time, but they were actually doing it unto Jesus (Matt 25:40). They were being the Master’s hands here on earth. It’s called, being the church. For those who’ve never done anything for Christ, that’s a very serious problem (Matt 25:41-46).

Prayer Warriors

Jesus’ half-brother James tells us, “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16). I noticed that James makes sure that there is confession of any known sin, and perhaps even unknown sin, which the psalmist once prayed for God to “Declare me innocent from hidden faults” (Psalm 19:12). If he knew about these sins, they wouldn’t be hidden, so we all have blind spots where we sin and don’t even realize it. I’m the first to admit it, but prayer is not effective when we regard sin in our hearts or have offended a brother or sister and haven’t gone to them and sought forgiveness. Since God forgives us, we ought to forgive others; otherwise, there is no assurance that God will answer their prayer. If we’ve forgiven others and cleansed our own conscience before God, then we begin to “pray for one another.” That brings healing, whether a physical illness caused by the sin, or just a mental stumbling block like pornography. Confession really is good for the soul. That’s why the prayer of a man or woman declared righteous before God has “great power as it is working.” Prayer is never to be considered the least we can do…on the contrary, it is the very most we can do. We cannot do much until we’ve prayed much.

Teaching at Home

There may never be a better time for families to reconnect again if they’re confined to home due to a stay-at-home order or quarantine. Parents should realize that they have a responsibility to their school and to their teacher to make sure their children complete their assigned tasks. Just because they can’t attend school doesn’t mean there won’t be assignments. This time it’s “homework” in the truest sense, but if parents allow their children to slack off their studies this year, they’ll pay for it next year, plus it sends your children a message: “School must not be that important if parents don’t care if I never complete and turn in my work.” Of course, if there’s a stay-at-home order in your state, you might not be able to attend worship services at your church, and that’s fine because there’s no reason to put other people’s lives at risk just so we can have worship services. The pastors that go against authority and have church services anyway are actually disobeying those in governmental authority, and these are authorities instituted by God (Rom 13:1-5). Why not have a family worship service. Open with prayer; sing a hymn or two (tons of them on the Internet; have dad or mom read a portion of Scripture and comment on it; ask the children if they’d like to read a portion of Scripture. Then ask them what this says to us and how we can make application for it in our lives.

Around the House

This might be a great time to catch up on those “honey do” lists around the home. I’m sure you can think of several things that have been neglected around the house, so why not spend the free time in a positive way, and if it’s possible, get the children involved. There are always things to do, inside and outside the house. They say, “Many hands make for light work” and I believe it’s true. And that old book you wanted to read by Jonathan Edwards (or whomever) is just sitting there collecting dust. Why not pick it up and read it. Disconnect from the world and spend time with a good book, but not to the exclusion of “the” book, the Bible. Daily Bible reading should be the norm for us every day…regardless of whether we’re confined at home or not. If you’re confined at home, you have no excuse for saying, “I just don’t have the time.”

Conclusion

What is something you’d suggest we add? What activity would you add to this list of things to do? If you’re confined to home by a stay-at-home order, by quarantine, or because you’re more at risk for contracting the coronavirus due to health or age, make the best use of your time. Spend the time in prayer, study, and worship, but don’t forget to stay connected to the other members in the body of Christ. Give someone you know who’s alone a call; email someone, send a card, text them, post on their Facebook page, and let them know we’re still the body, and God will see us through this.

Finally, if there’s never been a time where God has brought you to repentance, and you’ve not yet trusted in Christ, you will be placed in isolation someday…and it will be a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt 13:42). Please, if you’ve never trusted in Christ, do it today…right now, while we can still call it today, a day of salvation (2 Cor 6:2).

Here is some related reading for you: Did They Have Viruses or the Flu When Jesus Walked the Earth?

Resource – Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^® (ESV^®), Crossway Bibles. (2007). ESV: Study Bible: English standard version. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Tagged as: Christian Quarantined, Serve God, Stay-At-Home Order, Under Quarantine