The coronavirus of 2020 will be remembered for having impacted the whole world. Most of us have never seen a time like this. In the middle of the chaos, what are some spiritual truths we are able to learn from this experience?
One, small things are powerful. A single stone in the sling of a teenager named David was enough to take down a giant. In the book of James we read about ships, hundreds of feet in length, able to be steered by a rudder about the size of a person. Or the tongue, even though it is only about four ounces of our body weight, carries great power to speak positively or negative.
The virus we are concerned about is so small it is invisible. You can’t see it without a microscope. Yet it has the power to close Disneyland! The education system has shut down or at least moved to remote learning. And not only are high school and collegiate sports put on hold, all professional sports are suspended, all due to a virus.
Jesus taught that the Kingdom of God is also small in the beginning, like a mustard seed. Yet that seed grows into a mature tree where birds can seek shelter in its branches. There is power in little things.
Two, our lives are very vulnerable. People in a weakened condition have lost their lives due to the flu and viruses like the coronavirus. This is not like a visible threat of violence or war. It is an invisible threat to anyone’s life.
This reminds us that we need to look out for each other. While this may be hard as we practice what is called “social distancing,” there are still things we can do to help the most vulnerable. I love what Kevin Love did, the NBA basketball player who donated $100,000 of his pay to help support the arena workers in Cleveland who are now out of work due to the suspension of play.
There are going to be needs in families with children who are now out of school. There are some of our friends who may have lost jobs due to the virus shutting down their places of employment. Do you have family or neighbors who are seniors? They may be needing someone to get some food or supplies. And if being face to face with someone would pose a threat, you can make an order for them on Amazon to be delivered to their door.
We serve Jesus as we serve those who are the most vulnerable at this time.
A third lesson from the coronavirus is the whole world is reachable. Have you seen the map of the spread of the virus from its origins in China? Now it is on every continent and almost in every country of the world.
In 2018, Twitter did a survey to see which would spread more quickly, lies or truths. The results showed that lies spread six times faster than the truth does. Just like the unwelcome spread of the coronavirus, it is easier to infect our world with something negative than something positive.
We are people of faith. “This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4). What if our faith expressing the love of Christ were just as contagious as a virus? The whole world is reachable. We may get overwhelmed with the task of taking the good news about Jesus to the whole world. This virus reminds us, we can be just a few steps of infection away from actually doing it.