How to struggle well with the COVID-19 pandemic?

Yesterday (March 11, 2020) we all had received the most unsettling news that the current outbreak of coronavirus (COVID 19) infections that emerged from Wuhan, China has reached pandemic” proportions, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) Director General. Even actors Tom Hanks and Rita announced they tested positive for COVID-19.

Life has been shaped by the COVID-19 spread. The world market has crashed. NBA suspended all games indefinitely after a player for the Utah Jazz tested positive for COVID-19. Even Christian churches have innovated upon the Lord’s Supper. Most tragically are the precious lives lost as the result of contracting the virus. The majority of people who contract COVID-19 recover; however, this fact ought never to trivialize those who have lost the battle against the virus. Many of us are presently living in fear of infection.

Helpful resources on ways to prevent infection and spread of the COVID-19 virus have been provided by WHO and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Their recommendations are sensible, logical, and practical. Some of the things they advise, we already intuitively know are right actions, like maintaining good hygiene (i.e. washing hands, covering one’s mouth when coughing, staying home when ill to avoid infecting others, etc.).

No less than a couple of weeks ago on February 26 many Christians around the world observed Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday initiates the time in the when “Christians remember their sinfulness, repent, ask God’s forgiveness, and recognize that God’s forgiveness comes at an infinite price — the death of Christ on the cross on our behalf.”¹ The ashes bring to remembrance God’s words to Adam, “For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Gen. 3:19).² This is the season when we consider our human frailty and mortality but look forward to the hope found in Christ death and resurrection.

Ash Wednesday initiates the season of Lent, and Lent culminates in the celebration of Easter on Resurrection Sunday. All of humanity suffers the effects of life in a sinful and fallen world which came as the result of Adam’s fall, but redeemed humanity experiences the effects of the new life which comes as the result of Christ death and resurrection. This truth is more important than ever as we face the uncertainty of the current pandemic.

Perfect health in this present existence is really the ultimate illusion. Yes, there are real benefits to eating right, sleeping well, and maintaining good hygiene, but sooner or later we all succumb to our final illness. Healthy living is good, it may allow us to have optimal physical performance to the end, but we all have an expiration date. This is part and parcel of life in a sinful and fallen world. Yes, we want to do all that is possible to preserve lives through this COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, our hope is ultimately in Good News that Jesus Christ died upon the cross for sinners, and He rose again on the third day, so that whosever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Just as Christ has risen from the dead, so too the followers of Christ will participate in the resurrection to eternal life.

In closing, remember the words of the Apostle Paul: “For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’” (1 Cor. 15:52-55).

James instructs all Christians, “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (Jas. 5:14-16).

Peace be with you.

— WGN

1. Gretchen Passantino, “Ash Wednesday, Lent, and Easter,” https://www.equip.org/article/ash-wednesday-lent-and-easter/ cf. also Josh A. Moore, “Why Christians Should Observe the Christian Calendar,” Christian Research Journal, https://www.equip.org/article/why-christians-should-observe-the-christian-calendar/
2. All Scripture cited from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), unless noted.