FACING THE GIANT CORONA VIRUS.

            The giant stalking the world today is the Corona Virus. It has brought about the deaths of hundreds of people and infected millions of others. In their efforts to control the pandemic, countries have taken drastic steps of locking down areas, insisting on self quarantine and disrupting social life. In fact this giant has brought about a health and humanitarian crisis which is frightening.

            My thoughts go back to Numbers 13, when Moses sent out men to spy out the land of Canaan. They brought back a negative report that the land was overrun by giants who made them feel like grass hoppers in their presence. Only Caleb and Joshua were brave enough to say, “Let us go up and take possession of the land for we can surely do it.” Though outnumbered by the majority, their steadfast faith kept them counting on God’s promises, though there many wasted years in between.

            Similarly though the whole world is quaking with fear, the Giant Corona will eventually be overcome as Medical Technology takes control through vaccines, antiviral drugs and other methods that are being worked on.

            Till then we must cling to our faith and trust in the infinite powers of God. Yet being human, we begin to wonder why a good God would allow such a calamity to befall his creatures. As John Stott said, “The fact of suffering undoubtedly constitutes a single greatest challenge to the Christian faith.”

Is this God’s way of alerting us that something is very wrong with the world? Have the people misused the great gift of human freedom by making wrong choices? We live in a broken world inhabited by a people with rebellious spirits. There are many who say that Christianity is the religion of losers.

            This is a time to evaluate the direction of our lives, our priorities, our values, our relationships with people and above all, our relationship with God. Let us use this time during the Lenten season to pray, meditate, study the Scriptures and renew our relationship with God.

Psalm 125:2 says “As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people forever.” He is a bulwark that can protect us from worry and fear. His protection is like an impregnable fortress, which even the Giant Corona will find it difficult to penetrate as long as we strictly follow the preventive instructions that have been repeatedly given to us by the Medical Community. We are warned of the consequences of disregarding this advice at our own risk.

            Through our prayer life we feel the comfort and joy of His presence surrounding every part of our lives. Warren Weirsbe in his book “Why us?” says “God proves his sovereignty not by intervening constantly and preventing these events but by ruling and overruling them so that even tragedies end up accomplishing his ultimate purposes.”

            Though we are homebound and separated from relatives and friends, we can reach out to others phone calls, e-mails or mobiles. The social media is at our disposal. We need to stay united in our common humanity because we are all in the same boat and must row together.

As Charles Schultz the author of the cartoon ‘Peanuts’ said, “When my arms cannot reach people near to my heart, I can always hug them with my prayers.”

            So let us draw near to God and to each other by resting under the Divine shadow of our Lord, with His banner of love sheltering us. Let us have the confidence of Caleb and Joshua that God will vanquish the Giant Corona in His own appointed time.