What It Looks Like To Be A Christian In A World Pandemic

Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

-Matthew 6:34

This spot we are in as a university, city, state, nation and world is one full of fear, anxiety and uncertainty. It’s scary. 

We can go off of what our news channels are telling us, we can listen to our political leaders, we can take in what is being said on our Twitter feeds, but none of those options bring what we need most in this moment: peace. 

To say that we need peace and that peace can only be found in one thing sounds cliche. And what is that peace supposed to look like in the midst of a very confused world? 

How are Christians supposed to react to death and uncertainty without falling into our flesh? How are we supposed to carry on with trusting in the Lord’s goodness when it’s almost impossible to feel the Lord’s presence? 

Not to sound like a Southern Baptist preacher, but I believe that as the body of Christ we can break down what we need to do into three parts: being still, being a good neighbor and being in prayer. 

I am not a Bible scholar by any means, but I do enjoy looking into the words and phrases within the Bible on a deeper level. The Greek and Hebrew translations of a word or phrase can sometimes help to further the understanding of the Scriptures. 

The phrase “be still” is mentioned 8 times in the NIV Bible translation. To be still means more than just to physically be still. The greek word for “be still” is éti. This word translates into the word “remain.” To remain in something is to stay in the place that you have been. 

To be still with the Lord means to stay within the Lord’s presence and peace. As Christians, we can apply this with the current pandemic by trusting in the Lord’s plan. This is where we could insert the famous verse Jeremiah 29:11; instead, I will share Matthew 6:30 (MSG).

“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?” 

As the body of Christ, we have the gift to relish the unexplainable peace the Lord gives us. Let us not take that gift for granted. 

In this time amid fear and sickness, it is our duty as believers to be actively loving our neighbor, even our neighbors we never will meet. An easy way to accomplish this is to stop hoarding the toilet paper or hand sanitizer in our local grocery stores. Take only what you will need. In a way, this can be related to the Lord providing manna to the Israelites in Exodus 16. Manna fell down from the heavens, and the Lord’s people were instructed to take only what they needed to get by. 

Yes, toilet paper is definitely not manna from heaven, but only take what you need so that you can leave some behind for the hundreds of other people needing the same necessity.  

“Social distancing” has become a regular phrase in our vocabulary this past week. The purpose of social distancing is to slow down the spread of COVID-19 and ultimately get life back to the way it used to be. Stay inside as much as possible to help protect those who may not have the strongest immune systems. Giving those around us that gift is honoring the Lord because it takes our focus off of ourselves and puts the focus on the people around us.  Social distancing may have impacted your church services, but thank God for the blessing of technology. With technology, we can live stream our church services and still worship the Lord on Sundays without putting people at risk. 

Finally, I want to end with this: be in prayer. Having that communication between you and the Lord will help guide our steps as individuals and churches. Pray boldly. Pray with the power granted to you by the Holy Spirit living within you. Pray for the impossible.

2 Chronicles 7:14 says this, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” This pandemic does not and will not have the power to diminish the light of the Church and light of Christ.

As a church, we can decide to take on the endurance of Job. Job had everything stripped from him, but never once did his faith in the Lord waver. He questioned God, but in the end, Job knew that God had a plan. Even in Job’s moments of defeat and desperation, the Lord was right there with him, carrying Job through his sadness. These trials we are facing will not defeat us, but if we let it, we can let it transform our walk with God and heal our wounds. 

COVID-19 is not of the Lord, but will be used by the Lord to bring healing and restoration. We need to believe and have faith in what we cannot know or see.