COVID-19 is the topic of the day. Now I know this is not the first coronavirus strand that has created a global health crises. Yet, it is the first global health crises that I have experienced with a compromised immune system. Thus, me and my house are paying close attention to the daily coverage. We are hanging on every press release that the CDC puts out. We have learned how to properly wash our hands. Apparently we have been doing it wrong for years. We are in contact with my transplant team, who is in constant contact with the infectious disease specialists. I am not shaking hands and encouraging anyone who feels any kind of sick to stay at home. Even if that means that they miss church!
Yet, in all of this life needs to continue to happen. How does one balance the need to stay healthy and the need to live? That isn’t just an immune compromised person’s question. That is an everyone’s life question. According to reports there is a possibility that this virus has been active in this country for weeks without any detection. You can waste time trying to blame somebody for this fact or you could sit back and take a deep breath and realize a very important truth. The only difference between now and a couple of weeks ago in this country is knowledge. We know more now than we did a couple weeks ago. And we will know more in a couple of weeks than we do today. In the meantime we all have to live.
To all of the families affected by this disease, whether through direct contact with someone who is sick or simply living in the fear of getting sick, know that countless followers of Jesus are praying for divine intervention in curing this disease and for peace in the midst of the waiting. We stand on the truth of Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Because of this truth it is the “in the midst of waiting” piece that I want to address. It is one thing to claim healing, it is quite another thing to live into that healing no matter how long it takes. Just ask any cancer survivor. As Tom Petty once sang, “The waiting is the hardest part”.
Us humans struggle with waiting and us American, Capitalist humans really struggle with waiting. When we know what we want, we want it right now. And we know what we want. We want a cure for COVID-19. We want to go back to living our lives. We want China to get back to producing and distributing. We want to feel safe traveling. We want this to be all done. Yet, no matter how hard we want it, it is still right here in front of us, affecting so many different aspects of our lives.
So, if I believe that the healing is on its way, then how do I live between now and then? This is where the gift of the brain that God has given us comes into play. Just like hurricane preparation, one prepares for the worst and prays for the best. In the meantime I live. I go to work and I make plans for the future. I consult with people so much more capable than I am about this disease and I make informed decisions. I turn everything over to God and then do all I can to live into the healing that I know is ours. Above all I don’t panic. I know God’s got this and that God has me. I am sure that God didn’t give me a new heart just to have me die of COVID-19 in less than a year.