An Incredibly Crazy Circumstance
Wow. It is the only word that comes to mind as we sit in panic in wake of this pandemic. It is so strange how we are reacting to this disease. As someone who works at a coffee shop, the past few days I have still interacted with a normal amount of people per day. It’s weird and weighty and I do not like it. I know that I physically will most likely not be negatively affected by this virus. But my heart hurts for the elderly and weak that will be. The worry, anxiety, and panic in our society is a special opportunity for Christians to continue to show the love of Christ to everyone we interact with.
Since Saturday night, knowing that our worship service was cancelled, I have been searching my mind for words to come up with about these circumstances. There are not many that I can come up with from this anxious soul. To provide context, when I was younger, I would frequently knock on my parent’s door in the night claiming to have something terribly wrong with my health. It was never actually the case. They always told me to just trust God, and I could never bring myself to do it. So to find my own thoughts about this situation have been scary. So, what I thought I would do is to look up biblical passages about anxiety and worry.
I came across Romans 8:38–39, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, not things present nor things to come, no powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of Christ.”
Here is what is true, this situation will not affect the eternal relationship that Christians have with King Jesus. Is that not incredible? Amidst the real panic and worry that is flying around our society, there is a huge silver lining.
My heart hurts for people who currently do not have that same hope. Being a student-athlete has put this into perspective for me. Last spring I did not have an outdoor track season due to an injury. It sucked. I had put every ounce into accomplishing some goals and had all of them fall by the wayside. Which wrecked me, it showed me how much weight I put on my running career. All athletes right now feel that same weight. It sucks, and my heart goes out for my previous teammates and competitors. However, I want them to have the same hope that I have.
Jesus Christ came to the world so that we do not have to put our hope into things that will not last after this side of eternity. The society we live in does not see that and we are in mass panic. But you may ask, “Okay Gabe, so what this is your hope? Your God allowed this.” I would respond to that saying, “You are right.” He did allow this, but I can not and will not be able to see why. I believe in a God who has a plan for his creation, and I will willfully submit to Him in any circumstance.
However, I will also submit to the earthly authority that is in power. They have set guidelines that will be helpful and will protect the more vulnerable populations. When we practice social distancing, we protect people that we love and show them the care that they deserve. Use this time to spend it with the people you live with and grow in community. This is not a death sentence, but an opportunity to show the love of God to people!
