Covid-19 Pandemic of Panic

What has gripped the nations with such fear?

For a certainty this coronavirus is a nasty little bugger and many lives have come to an end as a result of it's effect on some bodies.

The fear that was associated with this unseen enemy seems unmatched in memory with people flooding stores and depleting supplies, with some peculiar interest in toilet paper.

A few short years ago over 60,000 people died in the USA as a result of the seasonal flu that year, with little or no fanfare at all. No mass quarantines or hording of supplies or increase in gun sales. It just came and went, for the most part unnoticed, except by those it has affected.

This invisible little bug seemed to spread at light speed around the world, which likely added to the press coverage and ramped up fear associated with it.

As contagious as it is, and as vulnerable as those already in poor health were to it's attack the level of response seems excessive to some. The idea that nations are willing to risk the complete collapse of their economic systems and the ensuing civil unrest that would undoubtedly result testifies to the fear this virus packed.

There is wisdom in the statement that the cure can't be worse than the disease. None of us living in the West can imagine how chaotic life would become if our economic systems collapsed. Rioting and looting would just be the order of the day. We had a taste of that with fist fights breaking out over toilet paper during this recent event. Now imagine the chaos when it is the last can of beans people are fighting for. It didn't take long for an otherwise civil society to break down into a panicked mob. Now, imagine that same scenario, not for days, but for months and even years. That is what is at stake.

What are people really afraid of?

Most of use are not really afraid of getting a cold or flu and putting up with the physical distress for a week or so, but it was the fact this bug seemed to pack a far more lethal punch than just a regular flu that fueled the fear.

But what are people afraid of? No, it is not getting sick that packs a punch, it is the fact that we are now face to face with our own mortality and the fact we will all die one day. When people have no assurance of life after death, the reality of their own death becomes terrifying.

We have just celebrated the most holy time on the Christian calendar which should in fact give blessed assurance to one and all of their eternal lifetime that can be spent in heaven, with God their Father.

The gospel is the gospel of good news, and that good news is the fact that God is not angry with any one of us, regardless of how we have behaved. By putting to death His only Son, He removed the stain of our sin that has caused us to want to hide from Him. We can never be good enough to get into heaven, which is why Jesus paid the price for our sin with His own death. That is the depth of God's love for all of us and the only thing that is keeping any of us from the blessed assurance of heaven is 'us'.

All that is required to have the assurance of life everafter in heaven is the bowing of the knee and turning our faces to God, asking His forgiveness and the newness of life that can only come by accepting what Jesus has done for all of us.

To know you have this blessed assurance all that is required is a simple prayer, prayed honestly and earnestly is all it takes, "Jesus save me, a sinner". That's all.