What if Covid19 Comes Here????

What makes us think we are entitled to live in a world without hardships...that we should always be prosperous, have all our needs and wants met, be free from disease, never suffer loss?  In the United States we have become so accustomed to a comfortable lifestyle that we forget most of the world is still suffering and that we are only a generation or two past such times here.

We watch a “reality” show called survivor which isn’t remotely akin to reality and has little to do with actual survival.  It is a foolish game that we watch, because most of us haven’t dealt with the genuine situation.  Hardship for us is going without one meal, or feeling cold because we forgot our sweater, or having our sleep disturbed by the neighbor’s dog barking or the occasional bout of the gastrointestinal bug.

We have forgotten that there was a time when hurricanes and snow storms could not be predicted, when immunizations weren’t available to prevent diseases and antibiotics weren’t available to treat them, when diabetes and cancer were an automatic death sentence, when building and maintaining a fire were essential for warmth and food preparation.

Sickness and death seem foreign and like an unimaginable tragedy rather than a routine part of life.  My grandparents were born in the late 1800s.  Their lives were so much more difficult than mine.  My paternal grandmother lost her mother to cancer when she was still a young girl.  She lived on a farm where she worked as hard as a boy.  Her father was physically abusive.  My maternal grandmother’s father was murdered when she was young.  She had to drop out of school after the 8^th grade and go to work as a seamstress.  Two of her siblings died young of kidney disease.  She and my grandfather lost a baby to measles.  My grandparents lived through the depression.  All of their sons served overseas in World War II.  What have I suffered by comparison?  Very, very little!

And so we are now in a panic over the corona virus.  Some of us will get sick and some of us may die.  We feel as though this is some sort of personal insult which our government should be able to prevent.  Conspiracy theories, finger-pointing and apocalyptic pronouncements abound. 

I believe in a God who is sovereign over human history.  I do not know what He is planning or will allow, but I trust Him to do what is right and what will bring about His purposes for the world in general and for me personally.

Tomorrow I will get on a plane on the west coast and fly to the east coast.  I will probably use some hand sanitizer along the way, but I do not feel anxiety about the possibility of exposure to corona virus or the flu or about the chance of the plane crashing.

I do not expect my life to be free of difficulties, and I do not expect my government to be responsible for all my personal needs and wants.  I know I live in a broken world.  Only my Savior can rescue me and make the crooked straight.