I want to share 4 hard facts for believers. This is against the backdrop of COVID-19. And, yes, I’m sick of having it brought up, too.
Still, this is what’s on my mind, and that’s what a blog is for, right?
4 Hard Facts
1 – Don’t act like God has fumbled the ball on COVID-19.
It’s not your responsibility to recover His fumble. He didn’t fumble. It seems that we feel that we need to be assistants to the Holy Spirit.
We fret. As if that would help. We may even cross the line over into obsessions. If the state of things occupies most of your waking thoughts, that doesn’t impress me as healthy. Of course, I’d never be guilty of that.
We research to find items that support what we’ve already chosen to believe. If your mind is already made up about some crazy-sauce conspiracy, then the tendency is to find “experts” out there who agree with you. It kinda makes you feel validated, or something like that.
If you spend a lot of time trying to figure out what’s “really” going on, then maybe you need to take up another hobby to occupy your mind … that is, unless you get warm fuzzies from worrying.
If you, as a Christian, believe “God’s got this,” then act like it.
2 – Guard your heart.
Don’t let things into it that corrupt your soul and mind. That’s more deadly than any virus. Try a news fast for a while. I’m not saying that you need to be ill-informed or uninformed. What I am saying is that if you evaluate your intake of news, how much of it is anything you can personally act upon? Don’t pay any attention to things you can’t do anything about. We can’t do anything about what’s already happened – there’s lots of blame to go around – but we can take steps to see it doesn’t happen again. You probably don’t know anyone in Wuhan, China. Don’t make yourself crazy exploring conspiracies.
3 – Be joyful.
This isn’t the same as being happy or content, of course. Joy is divine – happiness and contentment is temporal. If you aren’t joyful, it’s totally your own fault. God gives joy. If you aren’t joyful, then you are ignoring God’s grace and mercy. That is not a good plan. These are hard facts.
4 – Do NOT personalize this pandemic.
Are you ever struck while treading through social media just how selfish people can be? COVID-19 is not just about you. It never has been. We like to say “We’re all in this together.” That’s true, to a point. We are all citizens of the world. I had this fantasy about all of mankind presenting a united front against a common foe.
Maybe I forgot to factor in the fallen state of man. I don’t see a whole lot of support and affirmation among those who are of different minds as we navigate these waters. It’s like people have chosen camps and have retreated behind their barricades. The result? “If you don’t believe the same as I do regarding the pandemic, then not only are you wrong. You’re stupid.” (And if I hear the word “sheeple” one more time, I’m gonna throw up.)
So if you’re guilty of making this personal, as if the virus and all that goes with it is directed at you, you need to fix that. Other folks, other believers may not see things the same way as you do. A helpful exercise might be to stand in front of a mirror and say, “You know, I could be wrong.”
These are the hard facts of life in these days. I have spoken. Be blessed!