This week (March 12, 2020) has been unprecedented. We have previously lived through hurricanes and floods and the associated hysteria. But I cannot recall anything to match the worldwide fear created by the Coronavirus pandemic. Just a few minutes of television, radio, or internet, and you’re convinced we are all going to die—and that those who survive will face an economic depression to rival that of the 1930s.
Courage remains a choice. Choose courage. Choose hope. Choose faith. Jesus is still the Prince of Peace. It can be hard when everyone around you is afraid. When everyone else is DIS-couraged, how can you stay courageous? By fixing your eyes on Jesus. Stop listening to the words of the anxious and panicking and listen to the words of the Prince of Peace.
Consider Psalm 91. I am going to shorten it, focusing on what the Psalmist has to say about diseases, epidemics, and pandemics—all of which are covered by the older words “plague” and “pestilence.”
If you dwell in the shelter of the Most High
You will abide in the Shadow of the Almighty.
Say to the Lord, ‘You are my refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!’
For it is He who delivers you from the deadly pestilence.
You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Of the pestilence that stalks in the darkness.
A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But it shall not touch you.
Because you have made the Lord your refuge,
Even the Most High your dwelling place,
No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent.
For He will give His angels orders concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
[God says about you] ‘Because he has loved me, I will deliver him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
I will satisfy him with long life
And let him see My salvation.’
Psalm 91 (edited).
Read Psalm 91 and talk to God about fear.
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Household Words: 