Faith and Not Fear
It's no big secret; this coronavirus (COVID-19) thingee has got people all over the world panicked. There is still so much we don't know about this virus. However, some of the things we do know are that more than 200,000 people have been infected with COVID-19 worldwide and have resulted in approximately 8,700 deaths.
With new cases of COVID-19 being reported daily, it's probably natural to compare it to other outbreaks in our past. These would include the 1918 influenza, SARS, H1N1 (or Swine flu), and Ebola and even the most current flu season. Thank the Lord, with the exception of this flu season (yet), all of these came and left.
When comparisons are made, this newest coronavirus can be quickly blown off by its early numbers of infection and fatality rates. In the U.S. as of today, there have been 7,500 cases of infection and 110 deaths attributed to the disease. Sounds bad. But comparing it to other outbreaks can be deceiving.
The reason is that even one of the more recent outbreaks of H1N1 in 2009-2010 infected more than 61,000,000 people and killed just under 13,000 just in the United States. Even more amazing is that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that during this year's flu season in the last five months since October, nearly 50,000,000 Americans were infected that resulted in an estimated 50,000 deaths. (YES...50,000). Check this out: https://bit.ly/33veOx0
What may be puzzling to many is, why didn't we shut down our businesses or close our schools and restaurants and churches with so many deaths showing such huge infection and mortality figures? Great question!
This post isn't debating the merit of all these shutdowns or the devastating financial losses and the hit to our economy. Arguably, we may not be able to control some of these consequences. But we can control our response to all of this.
The question each of us must answer is, will we respond in faith or will we cower in fear?
As followers of Jesus, we are called to walk by faith not by sight.
What's in sight is the panic, fear, and financial loss experienced by millions of people around the world. Nearly every other news report tells of the new number of infections or deaths or estimates of what's going to happen next. Fear screams out to us to retreat and isolate from everyone else.
But faith stands and says to listen to the voice of the Lord. He is always speaking. But are we listening? If we constantly fill our minds with negative news and reports, it is predictable that fear will be a byproduct.
At Lighthouse, we remain diligent in our efforts to facilitate a safe and secure environment for our students, teachers and staff. We are exploring what are the safest and most effective ways to ensure our students' continued education and we will be communicating that information to our students and their parents as quickly as possible.
We also will continue to pray for a quick turnaround of this virus and pandemic and will challenge all of us to grow in our faith. Remember, our faith is not found in a man or biologist or politician. It's only found in Jesus Christ!
