With coronavirus on the rise, panic sends the world reeling into a frenzy. The outbreak of a pandemic has wrapped it’s icy fingers around its corners and countries and nations that man appears to have no control of. If only we would have used our intelligence from the beginning and taken care in the market places and in the handling of wildlife for food, perhaps not going there at all, would have been the starting point for nipping such a viral affliction in the bud. After the swine flu and the bird flu and whatever else came along, We are still slow learners aren’t we?
Perhaps when symptoms surfaced and the COVID -19 shouted loud and clear that it was on the rise and rapidly spreading, travel should have been banned on all fronts. Yet it wasn’t! Instead, the economy shouted “money” and “fun” called, so the world took flight and took sail and went wherever they desired, only some, to find themselves returning home with symptoms that tested positive. So now was the time to quarantine. Let’s place them out of reach for a time, while all those they had already come in contact with, go to their homes, their workplaces, their schools, and their circles of influence to watch still more symptoms surface! Yet, we heard from the media, that officials were doing all they could do to smash this bug and nip it in bud.
Yeah, we sit in our brilliance and our intelligence and yet, we lack so much common sense. Now, our world sits in fear as the numbers rise and the death bell tolls. What should our reaction be to this monster that rages around the world? We tend to choose a side, and either appear complacent for fear of what others will think of us, or we take action and appear paranoid. Friends, God has not lost control, but man has and fear and panic are aggressively on the rise! Recession is looming and disease is rampant and God looks on and pities us in our weak, human and finite frames. I’m so thankful He shows mercy to our pitiful condition and showers unending grace over our downfalls. When we think we’re so smart, we’re not, and when we think we’re in control, we’re not, and when the rubber really meets the road, we try to put on the brakes to stop it but we can’t, because we didn’t try soon enough. We let our selves, our fun, our money and our economy get in the way. We did what we did because we desired it and now we’ve fallen flat on our faces with recessions and lockdowns.
As believers, we need to find peace in this chaos and be a calming, stabilizing and balancing influence, but at the same time, we need to use the brains and the common sense that our loving God gives for such a time as this. Let’s be challenged to cut down the risk of spreading by not travelling or at the very least by quarantining ourselves when returning from excursions to other countries! To naively wait for symptoms to show, is redundant because by then it’s way too late and we’ve already infected with others with our contact.
Canadians are so far, fortunate enough to not have COVID -19 spread too far, but if individuals don’t do their part, use common sense, perhaps stay home and away from crowds, shopping malls, and events, it will spread rapidly and Canada will be sucked into the downward spiral of COVID-19! We can be so thankful for the selfless health workers and all those working around the clock to help the afflicted and try to make them comfortable, but they’re garbed and robed and protected as best they can be. The rest of us? Well, we need to do our part too. If we’re not health care, we need to be strong and refrain from spreading it. How can we be strong in this thing? It doesn’t mean we take on a bull in a china shop mentality and live in denial. Perhaps our strength comes in selflessness, by taking a stand and refusing to do things we so don’t want to give up. Solomon reminds us, ‘If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small’ (Prov. 24:10). Friends, we can’t faint and give up or give in to this thing, nor can we be paranoid and run in fear, however, we have to be smart and strong. Fun things like eating out, drive-throughs, mall shopping, and places where people are in close proximity, in my mind are the breeding grounds for a rampant rise. Who knows who’s been where, who they’ve been in contact with and where those fingers have been that just handed you that cup of coffee so nonchalantly in the drive-through? Yeah, I’ve watched them, hand over coffee cups with fingers all over the drinking spout. It sounds small and kind of crazy but it’s ‘real’ people. Today, the virus is a reality that’s touched down around the globe and it’s a reality where lives are at stake.
As believers, we need not fear or panic. We can rejoice in adversity and be thankful, for we know that all things are Father filtered and beautiful souls we are confident in our Hope of heavenly glory! We need not fear! Yet, at the same time, we can deny ourselves a few things that may be harmful to ourselves or others. To stay away from the fun takes a strong countenance because our frail human nature is to want what we want, and sometimes at all cost. So, wherever we are on the scale today, right now, in this place where we find ourselves, let’s do our part to do all we can to keep this thing on the down-low and stop it! Just me, Just sayin’!
‘If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small’ Proverbs 24:10.
“Rejoice always and pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God, in Christ Jesus for you.”
1 Thessalonians 5: 16 – 18
Hope and Healing In Hard Places 