This crisis seems to be hitting everyone differently, but two things that many of us appear to have in common during this time are pain and fear.
We fear for our family members who have to work. We fear financial consequences when we are unable to work. We fear for our aging parents and grandparents and neighbors. We fear for our children and siblings and friends with compromised immune systems. We fear as we watch numbers rise and listen to experts give grim predictions. We fear for the safety of medical personnel who are on the frontlines.
And we see pain all around.
Teachers are feeling pain. For some students, school is their haven. School is where they feel safest, where they feel cared for, where they can get away from the stress and pain of their home life. With schools shut down for the foreseeable future, teachers are concerned about their students. Are they safe? Do they have enough food? How are they doing mentally and emotionally?
Students are feeling pain. Cancelled class trips, cancelled graduations, cancelled proms, cancelled field trips, cancelled parties, cancelled ceremonies, cancelled spring sports seasons, cancelled drama competitions, cancelled talent shows, cancelled concerts… moments that have long been anticipated at not happening.
Our wallets are feeling pain. The marketplace is shifting. People are losing their jobs. The extent of this financial pain is hard to determine. How long will it last? How widespread will it be? While we cannot accurately predict numbers, we can anticipate that financial pain will result from this crisis.
Survivors are feeling pain. People in our communities are grieving deaths of their loved ones due to this virus.
As Christians, how do we respond to this pain and fear that we are experiencing?
Though we may feel useless, there are things we can do. During this time, staying home is a way that we can help those around us. If we catch this virus, we may survive. But in surviving, we may pass the virus to someone who could die. Staying home, if we can, is a way to show consideration for the most vulnerable people in our society, for the elderly, for those with compromised immune systems, and for those who cannot stay home because they are on the frontlines of fighting this virus.
As Christians, we may be wrestling with how to feel right now. What does it look like to trust God in this situation without downplaying and minimizing the real pain and fear all around us? What does it look like to not give in to fear?
The account of Jesus calming the storm in Matthew 8 gives us some answers. Peace is the thing that we all yearn for right now, and thousands of years ago in a terrible storm in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, peace is what the disciples yearned for as well. But during this storm that had experienced fishermen fearing for their lives, Jesus was asleep on the boat that was tossing and turning and filling with water. Jesus was able to rest in a storm because He knew the God whose hands hold the world. Peace comes to us only through knowing and spending time with this same God, who is the only source of peace.
The disciples had to be in the storm in order to see that Jesus is who he said he is. May this storm of COVID-19 show us more clearly that our savior is truly the Prince of Peace.
Want to hear more? Listen to Episode 1 of Church Unfiltered here.
We fear for our family members who have to work. We fear financial consequences when we are unable to work. We fear for our aging parents and grandparents and neighbors. We fear for our children and siblings and friends with compromised immune systems. We fear as we watch numbers rise and listen to experts give grim predictions. We fear for the safety of medical personnel who are on the frontlines.
And we see pain all around.
Teachers are feeling pain. For some students, school is their haven. School is where they feel safest, where they feel cared for, where they can get away from the stress and pain of their home life. With schools shut down for the foreseeable future, teachers are concerned about their students. Are they safe? Do they have enough food? How are they doing mentally and emotionally?
Students are feeling pain. Cancelled class trips, cancelled graduations, cancelled proms, cancelled field trips, cancelled parties, cancelled ceremonies, cancelled spring sports seasons, cancelled drama competitions, cancelled talent shows, cancelled concerts… moments that have long been anticipated at not happening.
Our wallets are feeling pain. The marketplace is shifting. People are losing their jobs. The extent of this financial pain is hard to determine. How long will it last? How widespread will it be? While we cannot accurately predict numbers, we can anticipate that financial pain will result from this crisis.
Survivors are feeling pain. People in our communities are grieving deaths of their loved ones due to this virus.
As Christians, how do we respond to this pain and fear that we are experiencing?
Though we may feel useless, there are things we can do. During this time, staying home is a way that we can help those around us. If we catch this virus, we may survive. But in surviving, we may pass the virus to someone who could die. Staying home, if we can, is a way to show consideration for the most vulnerable people in our society, for the elderly, for those with compromised immune systems, and for those who cannot stay home because they are on the frontlines of fighting this virus.
As Christians, we may be wrestling with how to feel right now. What does it look like to trust God in this situation without downplaying and minimizing the real pain and fear all around us? What does it look like to not give in to fear?
The account of Jesus calming the storm in Matthew 8 gives us some answers. Peace is the thing that we all yearn for right now, and thousands of years ago in a terrible storm in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, peace is what the disciples yearned for as well. But during this storm that had experienced fishermen fearing for their lives, Jesus was asleep on the boat that was tossing and turning and filling with water. Jesus was able to rest in a storm because He knew the God whose hands hold the world. Peace comes to us only through knowing and spending time with this same God, who is the only source of peace.
The disciples had to be in the storm in order to see that Jesus is who he said he is. May this storm of COVID-19 show us more clearly that our savior is truly the Prince of Peace.
Want to hear more? Listen to Episode 1 of Church Unfiltered here.
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