FULFILLMENT: A Lenten Quarantine Reflection

This is a challenging time. There is no denying it.

We are all experiencing upheaval, whether in large or small scale. It came in overweight scale for me.

My study abroad semester was drastically cut in half by the onset of the Corona virus. Something I had looked forward to since high school was completely overturned in a matter of days. The future was, and remains, a frightening unknown unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It was completely out of my control, but it completely affected my everything. I left, my heart saddened by the places I knew I had missed and the adventures which would remain untouched. So many things unseen, so many experiences un-experienced. I went home to quarantine and isolation with no real end in sight. My bucket list was half full. My glass was looking empty.

I was angry. Let’s be real, I AM angry. I am sad, and overwhelmed, and confused. I would be lying if I said the thought didn’t cross my mind… What the heck, God? Why are You allowing this? How is this in Your plan? What good can You possibly bring out of this?

I’m gonna dare to say I’m not alone in these questions.

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But God isn’t afraid of questions. He answers them. And He promises FULFILLMENT.

A few days into my quarantine, and a couple hundred cries into my tissue box stash, the Holy Spirit directed me to this verse: “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.” (Luke 1:45) These are words said by Elizabeth in reference to Mary at the Visitation.

Mary was invited into a mystery which she did not understand. At the Annunciation, Mary accepts a future which is unknown and frightening. And yet, she trusts. She trusts, not because it is all in her control and she has it all figured out, but because she believes in the goodness of God and the promises which flow from His goodness. When that belief is steadfast, the trust naturally follows. She believes in what He has said.

What has Our Lord told us? What are the promises He has made to us? He has promised to fight for us (Exodus 14:14). He has promised to give us strength (Isaiah 41:10). He has promised He will remain with us, through the trial and the storm (Isaiah 43:2). He has promised us joy (Isaiah 35:10). He has promised us a future (Jeremiah 29:11).

Everything I feel like I lost through my lost semester abroad has been promised to me by God. Can I honestly say, in the midst of this sadness, that I believe those promises will be fulfilled?

Mary believed. She believed even when she could not see. She believed even when it hurt, and when that hurt was excruciating. At the foot of the Cross, she believed, even though it made no apparent sense and there was no immediate relief. She believed in God’s goodness. As God is all goodness, He can’t but help fulfill His promises. And Mary’s reward was Easter Sunday. His fulfillment was the Resurrection.

Apparently, the joy which the Lord has promised me isn’t going to take the form of a pilgrimage across Europe. The future He has in mind is not the one I had planned. Nevertheless, that joy and that future remain. Even though it is unknown, it remains. Even though the current situation hurts, it remains.

I think there is no coincidence we are experiencing this during the season of Lent. This time is frightening and sad, and it is more than alright to admit that. But does our belief go deeper than these events in the world? Do we trust in His goodness and the good things which flow from that?

Can we stand with Mary? I promise you she will help us. Together, let us work to believe in the fulfillment of what has been spoken to us by the Lord.