COVID, contentment & the Kohathites
“Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.” (Psalm 37:3)
That has been my go-to verse in many situations: being a church planter’s wife in New England, mothering three kids to adulthood, navigating difficult relationships. But a global pandemic? Never in a million years would I have guessed it would need to be applied in this challenging and confining time.
A new season of life
The coronavirus has made me a little crazy and a bit discontent as the quarantine has brought with it a newly full house.
Please don’t misunderstand. I absolutely love hospitality and homemaking, but my husband and I had been living (and enjoying) the empty-nest life for a couple of years. Our schedules were our own. The house was quiet. The meals were small and simple. For the last eight weeks, though, my schedule has required consideration of up to seven other people existing within the confines of 1500 square feet. They all (one pastor, one paraprofessional and the rest high school or college students) have their own work to do, deadlines to meet and Zoom meetings to attend.
It all requires nourishment, which requires food, which requires menu-planning, which requires masked-and-gloved grocery store trips and the cooking of daily meals. Toss in a daily devotion, a run for exercise, and cleaning a bathroom or doing a load of laundry, and the day is done. This is not exactly the post-stay-at-home-mom-career I was dreaming of, but here I am. It’s all within the call to nurture my household, which I love and hold very dear, but it’s not what I expected in this season of life.
The work of the Kohathites
I’ve been doing the M’Cheyne Bible reading plan this year, and really enjoying it. A couple of weeks ago I came to Numbers chapter 4, in which Moses assigns specialized roles for the Levites in regard to transporting the tabernacle. The Kohathites were specifically called to carry (on poles, so as not to touch) the furnishings of the tabernacle. No strength-finder test, no career fair, no spiritual gifts assessment, no follow-your-passion; just carry the furnishings. Forever. Or for the foreseeable future, at least.
It was actually a great privilege to be called upon to care for God’s dwelling place and thereby help facilitate the right worship of God by His people, but the privilege lost its luster, and they grew discontent. And not just discontent, but downright outraged at the seeming injustice of it all. In Numbers 16 a son of Kohath named Korah stirs up a rebellion of 250 Levite men against Moses, who they claim has “exalted himself above the assembly of the Lord.” (Num. 16:3)
In effect, they are suggesting that Moses is not special nor specifically called by God, and that he has no right to assign them the menial task of carrying and caring for tabernacle furnishings. They aspire to be priests.
It was a very grave situation in God’s view. So serious were their discontented and disgruntled attitudes that, in a standoff with Moses, Korah and the 250 men were consumed by fire and then swallowed up in a sinkhole leading straight to Sheol.
Though the overarching message of this historical account has to do with God’s holiness and our submission to His good authority, its application to my life was clear: serving others is a privilege like none other. My seemingly menial quarantine chores are actually sacred in God’s view and can be offered back to Him in worship.
A transformed attitude
You may have noticed that some of the Psalms were written by the sons of Korah. Though these titles to the Psalms may not always be accurate, there is one psalm that seems unquestionable in its attribution to the sons of Korah, and that is Psalm 84:
How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy in the living God. (v. 1-2)
For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. (v. 10)
The transformation of their perspective is undeniable. They now treasure whatever responsibilities they are given by God and count them a privilege.
Though my heart battles discontentment some days, I’m trying to sing with the transformed and contented sons of Korah,
“How lovely is my pandemic household! My heart takes joy in You and Your call to serve them well. For a few months in quarantine with You and them is better than a thousand months in the career of my dreams without You and away from them. I would rather sweep the floor and serve the food in a full house than dwell independently in an empty nest. Help me to trust you and to befriend faithfulness these days.”
Melanie Krumrey is a pastor’s wife, serves as the women’s ministry leader at MERCYhouse church in Amherst, MA, and blogs at www.dwellabideadorn.com.