Coronavirus – How do we get a grip?

As we celebrated and joyfully walked into 2020, no one could imagine that by this time of the year the world would standstill because of a virus. I recall outlining my to-do list for the year and thinking about projects and targets I needed to hit in different areas of my life. While I make plans, I have a habit of praying; “Lord these are my plans, bless them and make them a reality, however let your will be done”. My experience walking with God has taught me that many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails (Proverbs 19:21). As I write this, the outlook of some of my plans for the year is unpredictable, so is the outlook for organizations, businesses, and every other area of human endeavour.

As knowledgeable as we are today, we are still learning about the new coronavirus strand (COVID-19) and though we know the world will not remain the same, we still can’t tell in detail how this will impact different areas of life going forward. Amidst the untold hardship and the human lives lost, we are still in a race to contain the virus and save as many lives as possible. When we successfully put this phase behind us, we will be greeted by the impact on the world economy and mental health of individuals. We already see unprecedented job loss figures globally, the weakening of financial markets, halting of manufacturing and production activities, dwindling revenue in tourism and oh yes, the lack of physical gathering of believers to encourage one another. This is happening at a time in history where we can successfully leverage technology to get us through the times because of how much advancement we have made in this sector. Having said that, nothing can replace human-to-human physical interaction. Simply put, we are social beings and anything that takes away this aspect of our humanity is a danger to our survival.

One thing is certain, this shall pass away but how do we get a grip on the situation in our personal lives and its impact on our future? We have to humbly realise the air we breathe is a gracious gift from God, a gift that can be withdrawn in His sovereignty. ‘’What does this mean?’’ you may ask. God has been gracious enough to give us life, we should get a grip on our trust in Him. For as long as we have the gift of life, we can be sure His shoulders are big enough to accommodate us if we lean on Him. I am not saying you should fold your arms in despair, or that you shouldn’t make plans or look forward to getting back to your normalised routine, all I am saying is that this situation presents an opportunity for us to let go and absolutely put our trust in God.

Our human nature is not built to be comfortable in uncertain times, we would rather have everything within our control, even when we pray “Lord, let thy will be done”, we would “snatch” it from the hands of God if we could. But times like these reminds us that we do not have everything within our control. The book of Proverbs 11: 28 (NIV) says that “Those who trust in their riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf”. As believers, we are called to trust God in the good, in the bad and in the ugly. We easily embrace trusting Him in the good but our trust in Him is defined when we can trust amidst storms. When we trust Him in bad times, we give ourselves the opportunity to thrive and remain evergreen. When our trust is rooted in God, we are continuously supplied with the nutrients to make our lives flourish. When we trust Him through hardship and in our weakness, His strength is made perfect in us and His grace will sufficiently carry us through this season (2 Corinthians 12 : 9)

As you rightfully take preventive measures against the disease, let your heart find a resting place and assurance trusting in God. Human wisdom will not guarantee our safety, but our trust in God guarantees that our lives even through these times will be peaceful and that we will come out victorious.

“Those who trust in themselves are fools, 
but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe
Proverbs 28:26 (NIV)

My heart goes out to families who have lost loved ones and are mourning, those who are lonely, those who have lost their means of livelihood, the disadvantaged and underprivileged struggling to cope through this season. We can make ourselves available to inspire hope in others this season. Give someone a phone call of encouragement, send a text of hope, make donations towards relief materials for the needy in cash or in kind, pray for our first responders, health care workers, essential service workers and our leaders. Even if we don’t know what’s going to happen in the next hour or tomorrow, we are confident that the one who knows tomorrow will always have our back in life and in death. We have been trying to get a grip on our loses, it’s now time for us to get a grip on our trust in God