A FUTURE AFTER CORONA-VIRUS

By now, the world population is, in a way or other, about two months into a quarantine as a result of the pandemic that is still sweeping across the planet. Statistics tells us that 212 countries and territories around the world have been impacted by Covid-19. So, while we are facing it, we wonder what the future will bring us and how much longer will we have to be in quarantine.

Most activities had to be cancelled and people had to make changes in their routines.

Birthdays, reunions, graduations, weddings, travels, sport events and all kinds of events and celebrations had to be cancelled.

Besides all of these, one of the most important, in my opinion, of the tragedies of this Covid-19 pandemic has been the loss of the power of relationships. We have lost lives, lost incomes and lost businesses - many of which will never return. Society will never be the same again. We will lose years in economic prosperity that, surely, will take many years to recover. Those of us who survive have to face the very true fact that above all we have lost time. Elderly parents loss the precious time with their children and grand-children and all activities and events in their lives. Those same parents are in the twilight of their lives and generally in good health and it is very sad to know that their few remaining days are precious and that they too will not be coming back. Those same elderly parents, who have resisted this 'tsunami' sheltered in their homes, miss the laughter, the relation and the joy of the faces they know so well. In most cases, they will see them again, but they are extremely aware of the severely pain of what they have lost.

Talking from my own view and situation I have realized, I'm sure they have too, that relationships are very important to us all. This period in our lives lead to the realisation that we miss being with our friends and families. There is no substitutes for our personal connections we make in person and our heart-felt communication.

In general, if we start to ponder about it, as well as to what is happening in our society, we all begin to wonder if life will ever get back to normal. Through a Christian perspective, it is most critical that we realise that there will be light at the end of the tunnel.

We will get out of this situation. It is with absolutely certainty that certain things might be permanently changed but we have to start planning and be ready for what the future will bring us and to be able to reschedule a lot of those uncertainties. Hope should never die. There is a story, scripture that I want to mention for this effect. Jeremiah chapter 32 tells us about Jeremiah being cast into prison.

During a time of siege around the city of Jerusalem, the armies of Babylon were encircling the city and essentially the city was under quarantine. The city had been under siege for a year, but God told Jeremiah to buy a field outside Jerusalem, so Jeremiah bought land that the soldiers occupied - certainly a poor investment. In addition, Jeremiah was a prisoner in the palace because His message, his prophetic message was really going against the king’s intentions. He was a bit more negative than they wanted to hear so they put him in prison. However, all Jeremiah was doing was to demonstrate his faith in God's promises to bring his people back and to rebuild Jerusalem. Let's think about this for a moment. Jerusalem, the whole nation is going down and there may be a bargain in real estate, but why buy it? What was he going to do with it? The nation was about to collapse. What did the future hold? Well, God told him to go ahead and buy it. It is very true that trust doesn't come easy and certainly wasn't easy for Jeremiah to publicly buy land already captured by the enemy. But he trusted God and he bought. In the same way. it wasn't easy for David to believe that he would become king, even after he was anointed. But he trusted God. It was not easy for Moses to believe that he and his people would escape Egypt, even after God spoken to him from a burning bush. But he trusted God. It isn't easy for us to believe that God can fulfill His 'impossible' promises either, but we must trust Him. Surely, like Jeremiah, we will also wonder if such a move was wise. Jeremiah sought relief in his prayers for his nagging doubts. He affirmed that God is the Creator, the wise Judge of all the ways of people and Redeemer. God loves us and sees our situation. Whenever we doubt God's wisdom or wonder if it is practical to obey Him, we can review what we already know about Him. Such thoughts and prayers will quiet our doubts and calm our fears. God uses His power to accomplish His purposes through His people. God doesn't give you power to be all you want to be, but He gives you power to be all He wants you to be. The people of Israel had to learn that trusting God meant radically re-aligning their purposes and desires toward Him. God gave them 'singleness of heart' toward Him. We must develop that singleness of heart and action to love God above anything else.

Sure what God said must be encouraging news. "You are saying about this city, 'By the sword, famine and plague it will be handed over to the king of Babylon', but this what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'I will sure gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety.'"

And indeed it was. It took a measure of hope, a stand for hope that Jeremiah did to go ahead and buy that field. We have to do the same thing. We need to demonstrate hope in our future. I recommend you do that right now. Find some tangible thing for you to do that will plan your future. Maybe it’s a trip, maybe it’s a vacation in the summer or later in Autumn, maybe it will be to reschedule that grandson’s graduation or birthday outing or anniversary celebration with someone close to you. Go ahead and do that. Make that plan. Do that now. Demonstrate that you have hope, that’ll do a world of good for you right now. It will be following in the example of Jeremiah. It will show that you have hope enough for the future, your future. And that’s something that all of us need right now.