Tuesday, April 7, 2020
See the big picture. See it in detail. See through the fog.
Zephaniah 3:15
The Lord has taken away the judgments against you, he has turned away your enemies. The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more.
Mark 4:40
He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’
Words of Grace For Today
Jesus paid heavily that we might be forgiven, and know we are forgiven, so that we can forgive others. Jesus frees us from our sins. We can turn our enemies away, by forgiving them so that they become God’s creatures, fellow sojourners on this planet earth. Given God’s truth for all occasions we need fear no disaster.
That does not mean disasters will not come our way.
Only that we need not fear them.
Fear cripples us. Anxiety cripples us. We revert to fight, flight, or freeze instinctual responses that cut off our reasoning. Great when we face a charging hyena or lion. But facing most everyday challenges and many extraordinary ones, like Covid-19, our instinctual, fear and anxiety based responses make their own disasters quicker than we realize.
Covid-19 responses need to be carefully planned, habitually and in great detail carried out, and reviewed and revised in light of the latest real, truthful information about the virus’ transmission and ways of surviving the illness when we or others in our care come down with symptoms.
Literally, fear and panic will definitely kill us, if not physically then in every other manner.
Why are we still afraid? This is not any kind of fear Jesus asks about, this is the fear that will kill us. Have we still no faith that Jesus will save us, even if we die? When we no longer fear death or illness or anything, then we can act with considered, wise actions, which not only protect us from Covid-19 but give us and those around us life, even as we self-isolate and keep physical distance from others.