Prudence and Prayer. Not Panic!

“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Ps 27:1 AV)

There is great fear gripping our world and nation right now.  Some of it is warranted.  Most of it is not.  The media has hyped a concern into a crisis.  We know this is not, nor will it be, a globally devastating pestilence equal to or greater than the one which will arise in the tribulation.  If we are this upset over our current threat, imagine what it will be like during the seven-year reign of the Antichrist.  Within the first few judgments, a sixth of the world will perish.  That is far greater than what we may experience through our present situation.  The key is to know what will happen to your soul when you die.  Not by what means you will die.  Many percentages are flying around.  If we look at the numbers with the most data possible, the fatality rate is somewhere between %0.6 and 2.7%.  Perhaps higher if you look at other numbers.  What the world is forgetting is that everyone has a 100% chance of death!  It is far more important to consider the end of death than by what means one gets there.

But I want to talk to the saints this morning.  Yesterday, a member and I were shopping for staples to prepare for our quarterly men’s prayer breakfast.  Cheesy grits and shrimp!  Awesome.  We had to go to one of those warehouse outlets.  My wife wanted me to pick up some toilet paper because it was being rationed.  To say it was a madhouse is an understatement.  Praise the LORD everyone was acting sane.  No violence.  But the stores are completely empty and people are acting as though we are facing the end of the world.  What I noticed was two types of people.  Some clearly had fear all over their faces.  Others seemed as though there was no care in the world.  There was no in-between.  One was either grossly concerned for their safety as well as all they love, and others who seemed to see this for what it is.  What shocks me is this crisis has the potential of collapsing our economy and our churches.  Churches, in particular, are going to be hard hit.  When a crisis comes, benevolence depletes.  I fear that when this is all over, there will be many churches shuttered because they could not afford their present financial obligations.

What I am not saying is that we should ignore prudent steps to avoid catching an illness.  But let us remember, illness and death are the result of the fall of man in the garden and will never be eradicated.  At least not until eternity.  For believers to treat this crisis as the world does and panic because the world is, is a sad testimony to the powerful God in whom we say we believe.  Again, don’t misunderstand me.  I have my annual check-up in the middle of next month.  I plan on shaving my goatee and wearing a face mask when I go.  A simple adjustment to lessen the chances I’ll get sick.  After all, I will be in a waiting room with sick people.    Fearing a disease that results in death is not a Christian attitude.  Security in our salvation and faith in our God is.  Let us be prudent.  But let us not panic.  Otherwise, we have no good news to share with anyone.  If our God is not greater than the smallest bug, then our God isn’t great at all.

In closing, let me say the greatest weapon against any threat is prayer.  I know the left likes to mock it, but that’s o.k.  They don’t have to thank us for praying when God answers those prayers.  Let us pray for our leaders.  Most importantly, they need prayer for wisdom.  Let us pray for our scientists and pharmaceutical companies that God would lead them to get to market and inoculation quickly.  Let us pray for those who will inevitably succumb to this bug.  Especially the elderly.  The latest statistic I saw was a mortality rate of 8.4% of those over 80 years old.  Let us pray for the families that will be impacted by this.  Let us pray for the businesses that are already struggling to stay open and the workers who will have no wage while we navigate these waters.  Let us pray that if we are a Christian nation, our true spirit of compassion will rise to the top.  Just like it did on 9/11!  Just like it does for every national emergency.  Let us pray the spirit of benevolence, charity, and kindness may spew forth.  Most of all, let us pray that lost souls will come to Christ through this all!