Tag Archive for: coronavirus

Fear is more contagious than any virus. It’s deadly. It kills all that could be. So it’s time to kill the fear.

Fear is crippling. Fear is a liar. Fear is a bully. I hate fear because fear is born in the pit of hell.

Just as fear is contagious, I believe courage and hope are equally contagious. I hope after today you join me in spreading a message of courage in the face of fears running rampant in our world.

He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.

Aristotle

A name holds power. Do you believe it?

The moment the media began spreading information (real or fake) about the coronavirus, it didn’t take long for panic to break out. The naming holds power. Name your fear and remove its power in your life. Today. Right now.

Often when we play out the fear all the way, we see it’s not that scary after all. The fear is bound up in the threat of the unknown and what if scenarios. So play them out. What do you see?

When I was a new staff accountant, I was terrified of visiting clients. One of my managers saw my intense fear and said, “Listen, your fear is scarier than what you are scared of. What is the absolute worst thing in the entire world that can happen? They could kill you? Eat you?” I had to laugh, it was quite ridiculous at that point.

I asked my 11 year old if we should be scared of sickness. His response was this, “Even if we die, we get to be with Jesus.” That’s it. This world was never promised to us to be perfect, whole, or even healthy. We spend our lives trying to achieve something here that wasn’t meant to be. Our perfection awaits us in eternity. But we have a critical role to play while we are here and I fear our fear is limiting us.

“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:20

Our role here is to be an ambassador of Christ. Christ didn’t crumple to fear. He overcame it.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7

Fear is from satan. Satan knows his time is short here. His goal is to kill, steal, and destroy. He can accomplish that quite well with fear tactics.

Once we start listening to all the scary news reports, he keeps hammering it home. He utilizes the power of naming that virus, the power of the internet to spread his fear. And we crumple.

As christians we live with a hope no one else has. We have an opportunity when fear strikes in those without hope to rise up. To share Christ. To share hope.

The Bible instructs us not to fear. Over and over and over again we see scripture telling us not to fear. But we forget, so we fall to the trap fear lays for us.

Right now I’m shocked at the state of fear and panic I see in our world over the threat of a virus.

“In the West, particularly, we have become so resistant to pain that at the slightest hint of it, we prepare to flee by some shortcut or some solution that masks the discomfort.” Ravi Zacharias, I, Isaac, Take Thee, Rebekah.

While this quote is speaking to a different topic, it strikes me as relevant to what we see in our world right now. Have we become so fragile that we are scared to get sick? Have we lived the good western life so well that we simply can’t fathom something similar to a flu virus hitting our home?

If so we have a bigger issue to fear. We are told in scripture that in this world we will have trouble. But Jesus tells us to take heart because He’s overcome the world.

Over the weekend we played 2 of our 3 basketball tournament games only to have the tournament cancelled because one person was diagnosed with coronavirus and had been in the facility. My initial reaction was complete shock. Is this how fragile we’ve become? Do you know how many people walked in that facility with all kinds of viruses. We couldn’t possibly know. But plant the seed of fear and watch what happens.

I read the thread of discussion on the facility website and couldn’t believe how terrified people are.

Don’t panic!

All around I see panic. The stores are sold out of basic supplies as people have stocked up as if the end of the world is here. Schools are canceling. Businesses closing. Around the world quarantines. But the driver behind it all is fear. I’m so sick of fear having the upper hand.

Do you realize one of satan’s tools is isolation? When he isolates us, he can really go to work in our head. Right now people are fearing to assemble. People are scared to touch each other. Groups and organizations are cancelling for fear of spreading sickness. People are scared to be with other people. Exactly what the devil hopes will happen.

Community is vital to our world. Connection is critical to our health and well-being. Touch is healing. We need to be together.

 Ways to Rise instead of Crumple to Fear

• Proact don’t react.
  • Look up scriptures on fear. Write them on notecards. Read them over and over. God does not want you to live with fear.
  • Take care of your health all the time. Build a strong immune system. God has created us to fight off more than we realize.
• Stop talking about it. Stop fueling the fire of fear. Fear spreads. Simply refuse to share it with others. We are so scared of people sharing their sick germs with us yet we are sharing a far more dangerous germ when we share every fear based article on this virus or anything for that matter. This world is full of scary things, we don’t have to share them all. Let’s be sharers of encouragement and hope.

“Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes,” Proverbs 3:25

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39

Would you share this post with your network? Or if not this one, share something that will encourage others to cast out fear. It’s time to take control back. Christ has given us authority over the demons. Let’s not fear gathering with people. Let’s not fear touching other humans. Let’s not fear getting sick and trust if we do, God can be our Healer and Comforter.

Together, let’s rise up in the face of fear through the power of Christ.