COVID-19 Series: #10—Do not be afraid

19 Pastoral Thoughts On COVID-19

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).

The imperative “Do not be afraid” is by far the most common appeal that we find in the Bible. It is given to leaders such as Joshua, to troubled family members like Joseph’s brothers, and to women such as Mary the mother of Jesus. If you are a child of God, this is one imperative that you can be sure is addressed to you as well: “Do not be afraid.”

It is always given to individuals who have every reason to be afraid. For Joshua it was the fact that Moses was now dead, and he was to take over leadership of a nation full of rebels. For Joseph’s brothers it was that their father had died, and they suspected that Joseph would now take revenge for what they did to him.

What about you, why might you be afraid in these days of COVID-19? It is possibly because the virus is wreaking havoc in nations a thousand times more powerful than ours is. Your imagination runs riot as you imagine it wiping you and all of Zambia off the face of the earth.

Why, in the light of this reality, should you as a Christian not be afraid? It is because your heavenly Father is in control of everything—including microscopic viruses. It is also because in all things—including a virus outbreak—your heavenly Father works for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. Meditate on God’s word until you hear God saying, “Do not be afraid.”

“Give to the winds thy fears;

Hope and be undismayed;

God hears thy sighs and counts thy tears,

God shall lift up thy head.

Through waves and clouds and storms

He gently clears thy way;

Wait thou his time; so shall this night

Soon end in joyous day.”

—Paulus Gerhardt (1607–1676)