The Lord has put His Church in a very unique position right now. With the continuing spread of the novel Coronavirus (and the disease that it causes: Covid-19) the Lord has given us a great opportunity to reflect His glory in a unique and powerful way to a world that is often given to panicking and selfishness. Yes, it may be all too easy for us to give in to fear, and we may be tempted to focus on our own concerns to the exclusion of others, but we have been called to live by faith and to walk in love.
But how do we do this? How can we be the Christ-centered church that the world needs and that God delights in? How do we fight for and show real trust in God that results in wise and loving actions for each other and those around us? Here are some ideas:
- Pray instead of panic (Philippians 4:4-8). Whenever you begin to feel anxious or overwhelmed, stop what you’re doing and pray. We are not in control. And when that reality starts weighing on us, we become anxious, often leading us to panicking and selfish reactions. But prayer is a strong reminder that not only are we not in control, but also that God is. So let’s ask the Lord for His help in protecting us, trusting Him, and caring for others well.
- Delight yourself in the Word of the Lord (Ps. 1; Joshua 1:8-10). If we spend more time reading, watching, and listening to the news about the Coronavirus disease than we do reading, meditating on, listening to, memorizing, and talking about God’s Word, then we should not be surprised when we struggle to have peace in our hearts and self-sacrificing actions in our lives. We must give greater weight (of trustworthiness, of authority, of importance) to the sacred Scriptures than we do to social media. Yes, by all means, stay informed. Sticking our heads in the sand is not virtuous or wise, but there is such a thing as information overload. We live in an age where we can put so much stock in staying on top of every angle of every issue to the point where we just cannot really process it all in a healthy way. Spending undue amounts of time seeking out the latest updates on all things Covid-19 can be a way of making us feel better. But being “in the know” does not equate to being in control. “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the Word of the Lord remains forever!” (I Peter 1:24-25a).