If we’re not careful we can forget valuable lessons very quickly.
Philippians 4:19
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
I. Life can change in a moment
Who could have ever imagined the world we live in today?
A:
B: The virus also demonstrates just how weak we are as human beings.
Imagine a virus even more aggressive and contagious than coronavirus.
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Faced with such a threat, could we prevent our own extinction as a species?
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The answer is clearly no.
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It’s easy to forget, but humans are weak and frail.
The words of the psalmist ring true:
Ps. 103:15–16
“As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.”
We should be reminded never to take our lives on this earth for granted.
Ps. 90:12
“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom”
II. So many things we value aren’t really that valuable.
Eccles. 1:2
“Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities. All is vanity”
It’s so easy to lose perspective in the midst of the busyness of our lives.
Our days are so filled with people
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and projects,
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works and
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wish lists,
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homes and holidays,
We fail to distinguish the important from the urgent.
We lose ourselves in the midst our lives.
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Perhaps this crisis is showing us what to concern our lives with.
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Perhaps it’s teaching us what’s really important in our lives and what is vanity.
Our Loss of Control
We all love to be in control.
We fancy ourselves captains of our destiny, masters of our fate.
The reality is that today, more than ever before, we can control significant parts of our lives.
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We can control our home’s heating and security remotely;
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we can move money around the world with a click of an app;
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we can even control our bodies through training and medicine.
But perhaps this sense of control is an illusion, a bubble that has popped, revealing the reality that we’re not really in control.
What about us? Armed with our disinfectant sprays, we try to lower the risks of being infected. There is nothing wrong with this activity. But are we in control of the situation? Hardly.
III. Fear has the power to protect or destroy.
Fear or Faith
What’s your reaction to this crisis?
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It’s so easy to be gripped by fear.
It’s easy to see the coronavirus everywhere we look:
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on the keyboard of the computer,
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in the air I breathe,
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in every physical contact and around every corner, waiting to infect me.
Perhaps this crisis is challenging us to react in a different way—with faith and not fear. Faith not in the stars, or in some unknown deity. Rather, faith in Jesus Christ, the good shepherd who is also the resurrection and the life.
Or perhaps this crisis is challenging us to react in a different way—with faith and not fear.
Faith not in the stars or in some unknown deity.
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Rather, faith in Jesus Christ, the good shepherd
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who is also the resurrection and the life.
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Jesus is in control of this situation;
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he can guide us through this storm.
He calls us to trust and believe, to have faith and not fear.
1 Peter 5:6-7
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
A: Fear is Real
What’s your worst fear?
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A fear of public failure,
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unemployment,
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or heights?
The fear that you’ll never
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find the right spouse
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enjoy good health?
The fear of being trapped,
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abandoned,
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or forgotten?
B: What is heathy vs destructive fear
These are real fears, born out of legitimate concerns. Yet left unchecked, they turn into obsessions.
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Healthy fear wears a seat belt.
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avoids cars.
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Healthy Fear washes with soap.
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Destructive fear avoids human contact.
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Healthy Fear for old age.
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Destructive fear hoards even trash.
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Healthy Fear prepares and plans.
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Destructive fear panics.
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Healthy Fear calculates the risk and takes the plunge.
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Destructive fear never enters the water.
Max Lucado once wrote about a father and his two small daughters are at play. He’s in the water; they jump into his arms. Let me restate that: one jumps; the other ponders. The dry one gleefully watches her sister leap. She dances up and down as the other splashes. But when her dad invites her to do the same, she shakes her head and backs away.
kid jumped into pool not letting fear affect his faith
Thats a living parable!
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How many people spend life on the edge of the pool?
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Consulting caution.
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Ignoring faith.
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Never taking the plunge.
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Happy to experience life vicariously through others.
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Preferring to take no risk rather than any risk.
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For fear of the worst, they never enjoy life at its best.
By contrast, their sister jumps. Not with foolish abandon, but with belief in the goodness of a father’s heart and trust in a father’s arms. Such was the choice of Jesus. He did more than speak about fear. He faced it.
C: How to move from fear to faith.
As followers of God, you and I have a huge asset.
We know everything is going to turn out all right.
Christ hasn’t budged from his throne,
Romans 8:28 hasn’t evaporated from the Bible.
Our problems have always been his possibilities.
The kidnapping of Joseph resulted in the preservation of his family.
The persecution of Daniel led to a cabinet position.
Christ entered the world by a surprise pregnancy and redeemed it through his unjust murder.
Are you ever in a situation when you are afraid to do what is right? Is your fear affecting your faith? Plan how you will handle those situations to bring honor to God. Ask Him for strength to respond correctly. Be bold!
IV. The Power of Hope
Jesus came to warn us of the presence of a far more lethal and widespread virus—one that has struck every man, woman, and child.
A virus that ends in not only certain death, but eternal death.
Our species, according to Jesus, lives in the grip of a pandemic outbreak called sin.
What is your hope in the face of that virus?
The Bible narrative is the story of a God who entered a world infected with this virus.
He lived among sick people,
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breathing the same air as we do,
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eating the same food as we do.
He died in isolation,
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excluded from his people,
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far from his Father on a cross
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all that he might provide this sick world with an antidote to the virus,
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that he might heal us and give us eternal life.
Hear his words:
John 11:25
“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
