The coronavirus has shaken the entire world. Nevertheless, many Christians are hopeful that their faith in God alone will sustain them during the pandemic. But will faith alone be enough to save the faithful and defeat the coronavirus pandemic? The Bible tells us in Hebrews 10:23 to hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. One of the synonyms of “confession” is “revealed knowledge.” Revealed knowledge comes only from God. So how do you hold on to the revelation of hope, when surrounded by apparent hopelessness, without revelation from God?
Local Skirmish
I live in New Orleans, Louisiana, one of the nation’s COVID hot spots. As of August 9, 2021, there were 2,720 COVID patients in Louisiana’s hospital beds. In addition, the Louisiana Department of Health reported that 89% of people hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated.
It is difficult to maintain hope with these numbers. This influx of COVID-19 patients puts tremendous stress on the hospital system. The coronavirus pandemic has impeded hospitals’ ability to treat patients. In addition, people experiencing heart attacks, injuries from car accidents, and other health conditions, will not receive treatment because there are no available beds.
New Orleans, also called the Big Easy, is a unique city. The city hosts people from around the globe daily. The world-famous French Quarter, with its renowned Bourbon Street, ensures that the city never sleeps. New Orleans is famous for its cuisine, Mardi Gras, and music. People come from around the world to laissez les bon temps rouler. But the unvaccinated make living in the Big Easy anything but easy. For the locals, maintaining hope is a prodigious challenge.
Clearly, the coronavirus pandemic has offset the entire world. Perhaps you have also been affected by COVID-19; you might even be losing hope. However, you don’t have to be hopeless.
I have listed five things that helped me to maintain hope and prevent the spread of COVID-19. I am hopeful that doing these five things will also help you maintain hope and defeat the coronavirus pandemic.
1. Stay Optimistic by Staying Informed
COVID-19 is spreading rapidly, primarily due to unvaccinated people and those in opposition to wearing facemasks. Many people are shaky about getting the vaccine because of false information, mostly suffused by politics. There are many myths and theories about this virus. However, a lot of the information about COVID-19 cannot be verified. So when seeking information about COVID-19, choose a trusted source that will give you scientific facts and not political gobbledygook and government conspiracy theories.
2. Keep a Positive Attitude: Find Ways to Laugh
Laughter is a great way to remain hopeful. Laughter can help you defeat the coronavirus pandemic. Laughing strengthens your spirit. The Bible says, “A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones” (Proverbs 17:22).
Laughter is a natural medicine that can improve your mood, combat stress, and strengthen your immune system. Therefore, do not allow the coronavirus pandemic to stress you out. Rather than focus only on the difficulties of living through the pandemic, find ways to laugh. Don’t watch television broadcasts that upset you. Instead, watch shows that project humor. Go to YouTube and find comedians that fit your style of humor and watch their videos. To maintain a positive attitude in a not-so-positive situation, the bottom line is to find ways to laugh.
3. Pray
To maintain hope among Louisiana’s citizens, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards turns to faith. Governor Edwards posted a message on his Facebook account, stating:
“Starting today, I am beginning three days of fasting and prayer for our state through July 22. The people of Louisiana need our prayers right now.”
Edwards asked that residents of all faiths join him and his wife Donna in prayer and fasting to fight COVID-19. The Governor concluded,
“I believe in the power of prayer and I believe in the power of working together and being good neighbors to overcome COVID-19. As the Bible says: Faith without works is dead.”
The Bible says in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
I commend our Governor for taking a stand of faith. Apparently, Governor Edwards knows that God hears you when you pray. Wise leaders use every tool at their disposal to save their people.
To defeat this pandemic, we must remain optimistic. That is why we must pray and never lose heart. Prayer builds stamina. As some may conclude, when we pray, we are not talking to the wind or a make-believe deity. Rather, when we pray, we are communicating our innermost concerns to a living God. Our God is alive. He spoke worlds into existence. Like God, you can speak your world into existence, and the perfect place to begin is to pray.
4. Have Faith in God
In today’s world, hope is necessary for survival. Maintaining hope requires faith. Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.” Faith and hope are not the same. Hope forms the basis for believing that something good may happen. Whereas, faith is having confidence in the things we hope for. Faith is the literal substance that forms the things we hope for (Hebrews 11:1). When you learn the fundamentals of faith, it opens doors to endless possibilities.
Faith is the tangible quintessence that the things we hope for become so concrete that even belief itself becomes a definitive reality of those things that are not yet visible. When you have faith in God, your faith becomes so tangible that you actually believe you possess those things in the spiritual realm. Even though we cannot see the things hope for with our physical eyes, we prove our trust by believing that God is working our hope into physical existence.
5. Trust Science
One thing is certain and that is, it will take wisdom, not mandates, to annihilate the coronavirus. Wisdom comes from God. The Bible says, “The Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Proverbs 2:6). If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5). When your faith in God is genuine, the Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth. As it relates to the coronavirus and its variants, truth is, this virus will kill you!
In addition to having faith in God, you must also have the wisdom of God operating in your life. Therefore, it is wise to trust science. According to Encyclopedia Brittanica, science is any system of knowledge concerned with the physical world and its phenomena that entails unbiased observations and systematic experimentation. In general, science involves a pursuit of knowledge covering general truths or the operations of fundamental laws.
The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) is our connection to the scientific world of disease and medicine. The CDC has recommended that everyone wear a facemask and get vaccinated to fight this virus. Following these guidelines will enable us to maintain a healthy level of hope to fight and defeat the coronavirus.
COVID is a global issue. However, individual local communities feel its hard-pressed effects when faces are attached to the coronavirus casualty numbers. We must come together with one clear-cut goal in mind. We must defeat COVID-19 and its variants at any cost. Learn to increase your faith by incorporating your faith with God’s wisdom. Together, we can defeat the coronavirus pandemic by having faith in God and trusting science.