COVID-19: A Reality-Based Perspective

The best information we are being given is that those 60 and above are at increased risk. Those younger, with underlying health issues, are also at greater risk. They need us to stop what we are doing and look out for them. The statistics are unequivocal. Those who are older have a very high chance of dying if they contract this virus. It is brutal to the elderly and infirm.

It is also critical for all of us to fully grasp, that the younger (which is many of us) are the pathways by which the elderly and infirm become infected, ill and die. Please let that statement sink in.

There needs to be an immediate silence to the voices of complaint, inconvenience and selfishness. While it may be natural to ask if ’this is all being over-hyped?’… the time for those kind of questions is past. We all must do our part and unify on behalf of those who are at greatest risk. This is the sign of genuine and authentic compassion. We need to quit thinking only about how this will affect us directly, and begin to think of others. That is the core of ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 

That is THE core mandate of Jesus to His people … Love One Another.

You can literally save a person’s life by making some self-sacrifice for a few weeks. There are not many things you can say that about in this life.

Limit your exposure and the exposure of others.

The only way COVID-19 stops is when it runs out of bodies to infect. Period. We can selfishly go about our business, living life the way we want to, and—as a result—see great numbers of fatalities (which will likely include someone you will know) … or we can play a role in blunting this thing by not giving it an opportunity to spread. The choice is ours. In quite a few cases, the power of life and death will be in your hands.

WISDOM & LOVE

I ask the LORD ...

“What does wisdom say and how can I fulfill the love of Jesus in the midst of a viral outbreak like COVID-19?"

The answer is both straightforward and simple. If I really love my neighbor I will not do anything to put them at risk. Doctors take the Hippocratic oath … to first of all ‘Do No Harm’. Shouldn’t we live by at least that most basic tenet?

If we are unwilling to sacrifice a little of our over-scheduled life-styles for the benefit of those less fortunate than we … what does that say about the condition of our heart? Have we all become so shaped by this world system that we complain because we are inconvenienced, when the lives of others are at risk?

Love will always require our sacrifice. But ask yourself … "is the sacrifice of our frenetic and unhealthy lifestyles (for the sake of others) not also potentially good for us as well?" When God asks us to make a sacrifice for the sake of love there is always a blessing that comes back to us.

My hope is that we will all learn something very valuable as we persevere through this time. Could God also be creating an opportunity, through this current situation, for us all to spend more time with our families? To learn the greater value of our relationships? To slow down, be still and know that He is God?

Invite Jesus into all this. Into your sudden adjustments. Into the difficulty.

Ask Him to speak to your heart. To reveal His planned intentions for you and your family during all this. He already foresaw this and has it accounted for.

God's ways are good, satisfying and able to succeed. All things work to a good end for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes. If we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, everything we need will be provided us. These are His promises. No need to fear or panic.

We just need to take a time-out and learn from Him through this. And also to place a greater value on learning to love others better.

May His peace, blessing and healing fill each of your homes.