Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; – Isaiah 59:1
Pandemic
According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, a pandemic is defined as:
an outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects an exceptionally high proportion of the population : a pandemic outbreak of a disease
I am not sure what qualifies as a “high proportion” of the population, but apparently the coronavirus disease has already affected enough of the worlds population to qualify as a pandemic. At least in the estimation of those with the authority to declare so.
While I can respect taking precautionary measures to protect the health and lives of the general public, I am more than a little concerned about creating a secondary threat perhaps more dangerous than the coronavirus pandemic itself.
Panic
Is anybody concerned about the panic we are instilling in our children? What are we teaching them about how to handle a crisis?
In his first Inaugural Address, with the American economy in a recession and sandwiched between two World Wars, President Franklin Roosevelt spoke these famous words:
“So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is…fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
Note that the President did not minimize the seriousness of the situation in which our country was in, but rather he reminded the American people that there was no place for fear if the country was going to move forward. Instead of being paralyzed by fear, he expected the American people to advance with courage. What would FDR say if he saw our response to coronavirus?
Unfortunately, instead of trying to promote the virtue of courage, our age seems more inclined to incite fear and then prey on it. Fear and division seem to be higher priorities than courage and co-operation.
Politics
To preserve my sanity (if I ever had any), I stopped watching News Broadcasts and reading Newspapers years ago. Unfortunately, when I retrieve my email from Yahoo, I am exposed to their headlines. Lately, they have “enlightened” me to the fact that coronavirus will be the downfall of President Trump. And I thought all the hype was to protect us from a deadly disease! Is it possible that this is more of an unmasking of dirty politics?
After two and and half years of all of the Russian collusion hype that was followed up with bogus Impeachment hearings, now we are told that President Trump is to blame for the health of the world? If the coronavirus is a threat to my health, inform me with facts, don’t waste my time with op eds disguised as news.
Is the coronavirus a real threat to society or is it another crisis to use for political gain? If the virus is as deadly as the media is saying, now is a time for unity not political pettiness. If you don’t like the President’s address, tear up his speech in the privacy of your own home, not before the eyes of a watching world. If the media wants to protect us, warn us about the dangers of a United States Senator physically threatening two Supreme Court Justices by name. Better yet, demand the resignation of said Senator.
Unfortunately, the attacks seem to be one sided.
Prayer
A few weeks ago, Vice President Mike Pence fell under criticism by many of his political opponents when a picture was released showing the coronavirus task force over which he was appointed, taking time to pray in the White House. With such a daunting task before them how could they waste time in prayer? He was accused of being delusional for praying to a non existent god for assistance. The fact that the task force went before God in prayer showed they were incompetent and unprepared. After all, as one skeptic pointed out, no scientific meeting ever begins with prayer. Which makes me wonder, who is really unprepared and incompetent?
Pandemics have come and gone. I highly doubt that coronavirus will be the end of the world. That doesn’t mean I don’t think we should take precautions and use “common” sense, but I know that ultimately, coronavirus is not the pandemic we should be worried about. Because of the true pandemic, sin, all of us are destined to die from one cause or another.
Coronavirus may be stealing all of today’s news headlines and creating a panic, but the real news to be shared is Good News. Or as the Bible refers to it, the Gospel. We don’t need politically motivated “fake news”, we need Truth. Biblical Truth!!
Instead of shaking in fear, perhaps we could learn from the Chinese Christians. Despite years of abuse and torture, they went to the aid of the early coronavirus victims handing out face masks and Gospel Tracts. Many of their former antagonists, including police officers, were won over by their boldness and compassion. They looked at the coronavirus from an eternal perspective rather than a temporal one. The eternal destiny of a soul is so much more important the the short lived “tent” that contains it.
Because of the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, sin and death entered into our world. Born into Adam’s sin, all of us are destined for death, coronavirus or not. Sorry FDR, but there is one thing we should fear, dying in our sins and spending an eternity separated form our Creator. But despite what his opponents say, we could learn a lesson from Vice President Mike Pence. We can humble ourselves before God in prayer and admit our utter helplessness without Him. After all, that is why Jesus went to the cross and died in our place.
Providence
I don’t know how much longer we will be inundated with coronavirus hype. Nor do I know the effects it will have on our society and economy, intentional or not. But despite my frustrations and misgivings of a lost and fallen world, I know that ultimately my faith is in a sovereign God whose hand is not shortened nor are His ears dulled. He will always hear us in perfect love and save us with His omnipotent power. If only we will approach Him in humility.
When the world around us seems to be falling apart, He is always the fortress we can run to and the rock we can stand on (Prov. 18:10). He will be on His throne long after coronavirus (and the next pandemic) is gone and forgotten.
Since I began with a dictionary definition of pandemic, I would like to close with a definition of Providence from the Heidelberg Catechism (Question 27). For the record, this Catechism was written in 1563. That year the Bubonic Plague hit London, killing one third to one half of the population while reaching 1000 deaths per week.
Question: What do you understand by the providence of God?
Answer: The almighty, everywhere present power of God, whereby, as it were, by his hand, he still upholds heaven and earth with all creatures and so governs them that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed, all things come not by chance, but by his fatherly hand.
I’m glad some of our leaders still emphasize prayer over panic.
