Come along with me as I write this post. I don’t exactly have my thoughts outlined. But for the last few weeks it’s been on my spirit to write…something. And when Jesus tells you to move, you won’t have any peace until you obey.
COVID-19, COVID, Coronavirus, da rona. Whatever you call it, it’s turned the entire world on its head. Everything from the micro to the macro has been impacted. Even if you’re not directly affected, you’re experiencing some effect of the virus. Maybe you or a loved one is counted among the almost 3 million confirmed cases worldwide. Maybe you’re mourning one of the 193,825 confirmed deaths worldwide. Perhaps you, your loved ones, and your neighbors are part of the over 26 million Americans who filed for unemployment since the coronavirus pandemic shut down the country. Whatever your personal reality right now, by the time this pandemic is over we will all have been touched.
This virus is taking an emotional and mental (and I venture to say physical, even if you’re not positive) toll on us that’s different from anything I’ve ever experienced. From what I’m hearing, so many others feel the same. We don’t have anything else to compare this continually abrupt, forceful, and disruptive shift. It seems like over these last weeks when good news about the virus sprout up, even more bad news follow. Is it any wonder so many are suffering from COVID anxiety?
What I’m sharing below is not glib, throwaway advice. It’s not a mantra to repeat. And not a feel-good positive affirmation. What it is is what’s sustained me through some of the most frightening moments of my adult life.
Psalm 56:3 “What time I am afraid, I will trust in you [the Lord].”
This is what’s sustaining me now. It’s rooted in the fact that nothing takes God by surprise. Certainly not COVID-19. Certainly not our fear about the virus and the havoc it is wreaking on our lives.
I offer this verse to you out of love. I pray your heart will find the peace it needs by putting your trust in Christ.
M. Michelle Derosier 