During my exchange semester in China, I lived in a relative comfortable dormitory for foreign students.

Every day, I would have to cross an overhead bridge into campus where I’d come across limbless beggars, hawkish fruit sellers and crestfallen students all struggling to survive in the thick fog of stress and PM 2.5 particulates.

There were many days where I hurried by. On others, especially after I had learnt about the dim career prospects awaiting graduates (let alone the fruit seller or beggar), I felt keenly the brokenness of this world and cried out to God for hope.

Yet, short of making some infrequent donations, I felt completely powerless to do anything more. And as a “banana” (Westernized Asian with an unsteady command of the Chinese language) studying short-term in China, how was I to do anything to effect meaningful change?

Today, I am safe at home typing this while millions are on the frontlines battling COVID. I wrestle with the guilt that nothing in my life has changed since my time in China – I’m still not making a difference.

The Bible speaks some surprising truths to those of us who wrestle similarly. Matthew 9:37-38 reads: “Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.””

Notice, Jesus does not tell His disciples, therefore go labour. He does not say be busier or more productive.

What Jesus says, is to pray.

I am to sow and sow hard but not before seeking Him and His will for me.

Often, when we let situations and problems grow big in our sight, we slip into a performance mentality.

We forget that Jesus calls us to sit at His feet. We forget the greatest commandment, loving Him with everything we have. And we forget to pray.

Attempting to love others over ourselves is difficult in normal times – let alone a pandemic! Trying to do that by our own wisdom and strength is foolhardy.

What is it that burdens your heart? What do you want to do for Him? We need to first turn to the Lord in prayer. Remember that the battle is not ours, it belongs to Him (2 Chronicles 20:15)!

When I returned to church ministry after my semester in China, I faced many days where I felt unappreciated. Often, these were the days where I had “done a lot”.

I had put myself out there to try to meet every visible need of college ministry and was worn thin. I had even refused to take some time off to myself. After all, I thought I had learnt from my experience in China that the true rest I was seeking would be found in laying myself down and serving others.

I now know that this is pride. I am His hands and feet but not the master. I am to sow and sow hard but not before seeking Him and His will for me. It is His love that needs to overflow, not my flawed and self-serving nature.

Whatever Christ is calling us to do, we need a renewed understanding of His power and a deeper understanding of our brokenness. That is how we avoid apathy and pride, and learn to love better (Philippians 1:9).

So here are five steps that have enabled me to make a practical change in my life and world.

5 WAYS TO CREATE CHANGE FOR CHRIST

1. Commit to beginning the day in prayer and meditation on the Word

This is the most practical way to seek first the Kingdom (Matthew 6:33) and reorient our hearts to Him.

It has also received secular academic support: experts say that our emotions at the start of our day can be the strongest predictor for our mental state for the rest of the day.

So let’s commit to begin our days in His rest.

2. Commit to an intentional schedule

Working from home gives us unprecedented flexibility, but it can also rob us of structure.

By being strict about how you allocate your time, you create a scaffold for yourself to work around. Budget time for prayer and the Lord, for family, for service and downtime.

Self-constructed schedules often fail because we are unrealistic about our tendency to fatigue. We should build breaks and flexibility into our schedule while being held accountable to it.

Being transparent about our use of time often immediately exposes our idols.

3. Redeem social media and technology

Unfortunately, we may find it difficult to limit our screen time during this period. However, we can learn to use our screen time more responsibly.

Seek to be sufficiently informed about community needs and opportunities but limit your consumption of news that thrives on worry, or posts that could potentially turn loving into an act of social competition.

Use your accounts to spark positive social contagion and spread the love of Christ.

4. Invest in community

This refers to communities of all sizes both in and outside the church like families, friend circles, NGOs and even nations. We should actively be involved in building these up, not neglecting to meet with each other (virtually for now!).

However, we should be wise in prioritising our efforts. We will have fields of care that the Lord has tasked us with, so let’s start with those – which are often right here at home.

There’s no point dreaming of serving far-flung nations if we neglect to show love and service by speaking kindly to our parents or offering to do the dishes at home.

Communities are built with intimate prayer, humility and small actions. We should never consider an act too small. After all, the Lord brought me back to Him simply because a college leader brought me to lunch, paid for it and showed me the love of Christ.

5. Invest in your gifts

One of the things I am most thankful for this Circuit Breaker is online classes. I continue to be enamoured by the privilege of having quality education halfway around the world from my university.

It has given me a better understanding of this world we live in and a passion for how I may apply my education to do good in whatever career I am called to.

What talents and gifts has God blessed you with? Invest in them so you can make a difference in your community even if COVID-19 is here to stay.

As the weeks of my exchange semester in China passed, I stuck to many of these simple principles.

In actively seeking a church community, I found an international community which was comfortable to me. And God soon placed a burden in me to see the local church.

As you well know, this meant looking for home churches, which are necessarily difficult to find. With no contacts in the city I was in, God used nothing but a rescheduled Bible study meeting, a missed bus and a coincidental run-in to help me find one.

Seize this moment to walk the good path, growing steadily in grace as broken vessels of God’s love.

Then, He placed me in a loving community which gave me the confidence that I could trust Him not only to tide through the exchange semester, but to grow in love for this strange culture.

I began praying more earnestly on those faithful walks across the overhead bridge. I found myself giving more generously and being able to smile more. I started actively looking for service opportunities.

Yet, by the time I felt equipped to move, the season had passed and my time in China was up. The Lord’s timing is not like ours (2 Peter 3:8), though I had learnt many divine lessons. 

Nevertheless, let us seize this moment to walk the good path, growing steadily in grace as broken vessels of God’s love.