The two off-the-cuff questions I’ve heard most over the last two weeks are:

• What now?!
• What’s next?

The first question, “What now?!” comes with a feeling of being overwhelmed with change fatigue, unsettledness, and maybe even a little punch drunk. As if to say, “Really, one more COVID-19 thing, one more change, really?”

The second question, “What’s next?” comes with a sense of anticipation, innovation, and eagerness to embrace the best opportunities amidst the mess of COVID.

Let me be quick to say; I’m not pitting one against the other, there is zero evaluation intended here.

In fact, most leaders are asking both questions! I have.

This is a critical time during the COVID pandemic because church leaders are discussing a gigantic question: “When do we re-open the doors of our church, and what does that look like?

OK, let’s be honest, no one has a perfect answer to when and how to open church up again, because no one has done it yet. (Or very few.) Nonetheless, we have to figure that out and figure it out now.

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You might be trying to do something new, working on solving a big problem, or just dealing—like all of us are—with a lot of uncertainties because of COVID-19. 

We all have so many questions. And I want to share with you a truth that I’ve learned in my nearly 40 years in leadership as a pastor.

Like you, there are so many things I don’t like about COVID-19.

Obvious as they may be, let me list a few.

1. It hurts people.
2. It is crushing the economy.
3. It greatly limits what where we can go.
4. It has created sustained fear, worry and anxiety.
5. It’s almost impossible to predict.

In spite of all this …

We need to smile, laugh when we can, keep our chin up and know that we will get through it even though it’s not easy.

In fact, it’s difficult.  

I lost a dear friend last week who had been in ICU on a ventilator for three weeks. It’s heartbreaking.

No matter how difficult the challenge, as leaders we must communicate hope, and that first requires hope within us.

That hope springs from our:

• Faith in Christ
• Confidence as a leader
• Personal growth through this season

One of the most important questions you can ask yourself right now is; Who you are becoming during this time?

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