4 things God may want to remind us in the midst of the coronavirus
You’re almost certainly not going to die from coronavirus.
Nevertheless, at youth group this Wednesday, as I saw one of our students scrolling through his news feed, I pointed out that—no exaggeration—every other story had something to do with coronavirus. Clearly, this new disease is on everyone’s minds, and it’s having an incredible effect on the world—even the stock markets are tumbling. Entire nations are shuttering schools for weeks, even those where only a handful of people have contracted the disease. I can hardly remember any recent world event that impacted the news and daily life this much for so many.
If you’re one of those who wonders why the media is getting so worked up over another flu virus, the answer is because of the 1918 flu pandemic, also known as the Spanish flu. That pandemic killed 50 million people around the world—675,000 in the US—and perhaps most disturbingly, it afflicted healthy young adults worst of all. That was a scary time. So every time a new strain emerges, it’s usually compared to that one. And while most people go on about their lives as normal, one can’t help but ask: should we be scared?
Today we call them pandemics. Long ago, we called them plagues. Plagues have been a part of life through all of human history, and the human race has endured far worse plagues than the coronavirus or even the Spanish flu. And whether viral or bacterial, widespread or localized, human or zoonotic, they all have the same effect on our minds: They make us aware of our own frailty. They remind us of our own mortality. And that’s where our anxiety comes from.
Plagues aren’t like other hazards. You can’t see them coming. Rich or poor, young or old, famous or unknown, we all have frail human bodies vulnerable to the movements of even microscopic organisms. Plagues make us realize how much we don’t control, and how much we don’t have mastery over.
Again, let me reiterate: You’re almost certainly not going to die from coronavirus. Even if, by some crazy combination of unfortunate events, you do acquire the virus, nearly everyone who gets the disease recovers from it. But being aware of our own mortality isn’t a bad thing. It doesn’t even have to be a scary thing. For one thing, it can provide a much-needed stimulus to turn our minds toward spiritual realities.
But it’s okay to be uneasy, as I’m sure many are. And it’s good to ask: Where is God when it comes to things like the coronavirus? What is he doing when he allows plagues and diseases to invade our world? Quite a lot. I think that, in the midst of this and other epidemics, he wants us to be reminded of four things:
God has had great mercy on us. Since the 1918 flu pandemic, medicine has advanced light-years. In the last century, God has granted many people the wisdom and innovative spirit to develop science and technology that’s allowed us to fight illnesses so much more effectively, and eradicate some of them entirely. We’ve come a very long way from the time when the average person’s life expectancy was 48 years (that was the year before the Spanish flu, which temporarily reduced life expectancy by twelve years!) We are incredibly privileged, in that sense, to live in our time and not another. We did nothing to deserve longer lifespans than our ancestors, and neither we nor they did anything to deserve a lifespan at all. So we should thank God for, due to no merit of our own, bringing us into this time and place with the knowledge available to us.
It’s good to be aware of our own mortality. Many of us—especially those who are young—don’t think or talk about our own mortality very often. But I certainly hear young people talking about the coronavirus.
As I said above, being reminded of our own mortality doesn’t have to be a frightening thing that keeps us up at night. The psalmist even asks God, “Teach us to number our days” (Psalm 90:12). Awareness of our own mortality should be a motivator to make the most of our limited time in this world. It should be a reminder not to waste time on things that don’t matter, but to devote ourselves to things that will make a difference. The heightened concern that comes with epidemics even causes some to ponder a little more deeply their eternal destiny, and could be a golden opportunity to share the gospel with someone who might otherwise be closed off.
God’s promise to work things out for the good of those who love him still applies. God is actively involved and using the coronavirus to bring about good for his people, as he promised, even if it’s via a long butterfly effect. He isn’t just standing back and watching from a safe distance. He’s close to everyone who suffers.
And even at the absolute worst, when Christians contract an illness and die, they go to a place where they never suffer again. It doesn’t mean there isn’t suffering prior to that, but this is the endpoint of even the worst-case scenario for every follower of Christ.
The presence of suffering should remind us of our duty to compassion and mercy. From ancient times, one thing Christians were known for was their compassion during plagues. In a time when most people would flee a city as people the contagion began to spread, often it was the Christians who would stay and care for the sick and dying. They acted courageously in the face of death because they knew they had eternal life.
Today we have doctors and hospitals who are better equipped than the average person to care for the gravely ill. But that doesn’t mean we have no part in showing mercy and compassion to the sick. People have spoken to the media about how scary it is to be quarantined and isolated for weeks, even months. Will it get to the point where significant numbers of people have to be quarantined in the US—or wherever your country is—if it hasn’t already? Maybe. We can’t know. But maybe in a month or two you’ll know someone who has to go through that. Maybe you know people now who are sick, isolated, or lonely. Will we, as Christ and his followers did, reach out to those people and be there for them to the extent that we can?
Our reaction to coronavirus
When it comes to the coronavirus, and every other disease or pandemic, I would say that it’s crucial for Christians to exercise compassion, wisdom, and trust in God. We should not overreact either on the side of dismissiveness or fear. We should be a source of comfort and encouragement to those who are sick. We should wash our hands and practice good hygiene. We should also not let concern about a virus rule our lives or constantly occupy our thoughts.
The coronavirus pandemic may get worse before it gets better. But if the virus begins to recede, we can celebrate God’s mercy. If it doesn’t, we can still trust that God is active and knows what he’s doing.
