Written By: Clarissa Mangaran
Well, I’m super distracted by all the goings-on with the spread of the Coronavirus. How about you?
This past weekend, our shelves were stripped bare of toilet paper and sanitizing products. I honestly had no idea what was going on and found it laughable that people were panicking. As I write this, I just received an email from my children’s schools that all schools will be closing their doors for the next three weeks, as of right now. My husband’s company requires a lot of traveling, and they had to scramble a few days ago to get all their employees back into the states before the travel ban from Europe took effect. As of next week, his company will alternate weeks with half of every team working from home. I have family members whose trip to Europe this week was canceled. My mom was just in town visiting, and because of that, her work called and told her she had to work from home for two weeks upon her return. Needless to say, this pandemic is causing quite a stir.
We can panic. We can be filled with fear. We can isolate ourselves from the world. We can be angry about all the perceived inconveniences due to all the mandatory changes. Or. We can choose to have a different perspective.
Last night on my drive home, as all these thoughts flooded my mind, I prayed. I asked God, “Okay, Lord, what’s going on? Should I be worried? What are you up to? You’re ultimately in control of everything, so aside from trusting You, what’s my responsibility?”
Take the necessary precautions. And look at the bright side.
I’m down for the “necessary precautions” part, but “bright side“? When I got home, I saw an article from a lady in Wuhan, China, who has been quarantined for several months now. She talked about the good that has come from being at “ground zero” of the Coronavirus. She said she and her family were able to slow down and use this mandatory time at home without all the distractions of everyday life to focus on connecting with each other. She said her prayer life had never been better as she relied on the Lord for everything.
It occurred to me that she was right. First of all, technology, with its flaws, provides us the ability to be informed on what’s going and what to do in an instant. Second, our country is taking drastic measures to help slow the spreading of this disease, despite the monetary impact I’m sure this is having on companies. Third, the memes that are coming out…hilarious! I was in tears last night, laughing so hard! It’s okay to find the humor in the situation. I look forward to my husband and my kids being home. I’m not going to miss all the driving around and stressing over trying to keep up with our exhausting schedule. The homebody in me is cheering for joy!
God’s Word tells us not to fear over and over and over. I’ve heard it said that “fear not” is repeated 365 times in the Bible. Did God know that we would struggle with fear or what? Fear, other than the fear of the Lord, comes from not trusting that God is in control, and He, as Romans 8:28 says, will work all things for our good. God has something up His sleeve that will knock our socks off if only we’ll pay attention. For those who are at home with kids, take advantage of this time, and have fun with your kids. Use this time to get in God’s Word as a family. Teach them the value of knowing who our God is and that He is in control. We can take courage in Him. We can trust that all of this is temporary.
So I tell you the same as God told me: “Take the necessary precautions. And look at the bright side.” Trust in God that things will work out in the end.
Written By: Clarissa Mangaran
