Author: Ryan Hodgins
What a crazy time we are living in! I have lived through some unreal stuff—from 9/11 to watching the first big bombing in Operation Desert Storm to the SARS outbreak. But of all that I have seen and lived through, I have never been through anything like the coronavirus.
COVID-19, which stands for Corona Virus Disease 2019, is the source of the pandemic currently upsetting the lives of almost everyone on the planet. The impact this virus has had is insane.
When the news first broke about COVID-19—when people started getting paranoid and things started shutting down—I straight-up thought they were overreacting. But as the reaction continued, I started to wonder: “What is happening? Are people super overreacting or am I super under-reacting?”
Have you been there? Can you relate? Only time will tell who was right, but one thing is certain: we are truly living in a time unlike any before. My normal tendency is to assume that the media is blowing things out of proportion. It’s as though they’ve cried wolf way too many times, and I have little to no trust in them anymore. Coverage of the coronavirus seems similar to hurricane season when they make it sound like every storm is going to be a Category-6-deadliest-storm-ever. The reporter looks like he’s about to be knocked over by the incredibly intense wind, and then a guy in shorts calmly strolls into the picture behind him. Fake news is a thing, people.
So, in whom do I trust? How can I know what is happening? And in this chaos, where do I find hope?
There was a time in my life when stuff like this—the world shutting down and everything— would have caused great fear in me. A perfectly normal reaction. But now I know that there is hope.
Since I’ve gotten closer to God, I find that I have more peace than I even feel I should have. Am I worried about people? Yes. I don’t want anyone to die from this virus. But I don't fear it. My heart is at peace because I’ve been able to place my trust in God. Again and again, I’ve found that God is faithful. I can rely on Him.
If you need peace in this chaos, if you want to find relief and hope in your stress and struggles, you can find it in God. If you build a relationship with Him through regular, daily encounters, you will find a peace that is indescribable. You will be able to crush it through this pandemic like a champion. You’ll find yourself with crazy peace (just like He promised).
“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint,” Isaiah 40:31, NIV.