FAITH, FEAR AND COVID 19
As the world struggles against Covid-19, the situation is changing. In the beginning, many nations were convinced that locking down their population, to various degrees, was the right strategy. All over the planet, we now see a change in rhetoric at the highest levels as we inch forward towards a “new normal.”
Just as well, judging by a recent headline on the Fox News website: “Protesters rally against Washington’s coronavirus stay-at-home order: ‘Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Covid-19.’” The wind is changing and more scary challenges lie ahead.
Whatever stage of this process we are in, we must guard our hearts against the damaging affects of fear. If you are feeling fearful, it is not a good time to be making major decisions. Why? Because fear leads to panic, and panic leads to irrationality. When panic takes over and the brain shuts down, we can end up doing some really crazy stuff.
On the other hand, we mustn’t make the opposite mistake of becoming afraid of fear. It is natural to be afraid of what scientists have labelled a “global pandemic,” especially if you are in the “at risk” category or have now lost your job.
There are many interesting and instructive examples in the Bible about marching forward through life’s difficulties in spite of fear. Very often the victory is found, not so much in not feeling afraid, but in doing the right thing despite fear making us shake in our boots.
As a Christian, I can have confidence when I feel afraid because I know that I do not face my challenges alone and that, in the long run, my future is bright.
Firstly, let’s consider the bright future of the Christian believer. The book of Revelation 21:1-7 says that I have an eternal future of joy beyond this life where death, sorrow and pain will be absent. That hope encourages me to respond sensibly to present disappointments. My gains and losses in this life are not the sum total of my existence. In other words, I have hope.
Hope is like riding a bicycle along a plank. If you look forward, beyond the end of the plank, then you will keep you balance. But if you look down at the front wheel or at your peddling feet then you will start wobbling and perhaps fall off. My hope looks beyond this life to my eternal future and helps me to keep balanced and moving steadily forward, despite times of very real fear.
Secondly, I am not alone because I belong to God and He is with me, despite my failings. When the friends of Daniel were thrown into a fiery furnace by an unreasonable king in the book of Daniel chapter 3, they discovered that they were not alone. The One who appeared with them is described as being “like the Son of God” (verse 25). They emerged unharmed because God manifested His love to them.
Sometimes we emerge unharmed from a time of trial, but on other occasions we suffer wounds and bruises along the way. Either way, we are far better off with Jesus in our lives than we are without Him.
There’s a song, Another in the Fire, by Chris Davenport and Joel Houston that poetically captures the response of faith in the face of fear and difficult circumstances. Here are some of the lyrics:
There was another in the fire
Standing next to me
There was another in the waters
Holding back the seas
And should I ever need reminding
Of how I've been set free
There is a cross that bears the burden
Where another died for me
Wayne.
Photo credit by cottonbro from Pexels.com
To learn more about Wayne’s book, Revelations of the Kingdom for Suspicious Minds, read his blogs, or to make contact with Wayne, visit waynejohns.co.nz
