People were excited and happy when the third decade of the Twenty-first century began with the year 2020. However, this excitement did not last very long. A virus that the World Health Organization (WHO) named as COVID-191 emerged and reshaped the lives of nearly every citizen of this world.
What is COVID-19? According to the medical science experts, coronavirus disease of 2019 or COVID-19, initially known as ‘2019 novel coronavirus’ (2019-nCoV), is caused by a virus2 called coronavirus,3 or to be very specific – SARS-COV-2.4 The presence of coronaviruses in humans and animals is really surprising as there are different kinds of coronaviruses which exist in humans and animals (bats, cats, cattle, etc). Although the details regarding the origin of this virus remain uncertain, it first came to the limelight in Wuhan, China and spread to almost all countries.
The noticeable symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, cough, shortness of breath, shivering caused by coldness, sore-throat, headache, and even body pain. Everyone is advised to sanitize their hands by washing with soap several times a day, cover their nose and mouth while sneezing/coughing, and to avoid close contact with anyone who is sick.
Currently, there is no vaccine available for COVID-19. However, scientists around the world are currently working on a vaccine. Government authorities recommend that people keep away from one another and avoid any personal contact with the COVID-19 positive patients, even if they are close friends or relatives.
This virus, without any mercy, declared war against mankind and challenged the well-being, or even the very existence, of every living person. Our perplexed world went under cover as the virus began to spread. In the midst of this situation, the wisest among the wise or the strongest among the strong or the richest among the rich in the world did not know what to do? None of them could save humanity from the grip of a tiny virus that is causing so much fear, uncertainty, and death. In the midst of this global pandemic, scientists and medical professionals could only recommend people to stay home and stay safe by avoiding public places in order to control the spread of virus. As a result, every non-essential business was closed and every non-essential public gathering was cancelled resulting in a lockdown that was imposed around the world. Despite all precautions taken, within a short period of time, by the middle of May 2020, the number of COVID-19 positive patients hit the mark of 5.1 million and more than 340,000 people lost their lives across the world. Now, medical science fears that the number of COVID-19 positive cases will increase beyond what was originally predicted.
In the midst of such unprecedented and sorrowful times, medical science does not have the solution to combat this global pandemic. What can we do and who will save the humanity from the grip of COVID-19, the unseen enemy? The world is in panic mode and in this situation only God can save humanity from such a crisis. You must be wondering how I can be so confident? It is because of my personal encounter with God and my trust in His sovereignty to deliver His people from any kind of life threatening danger like war, famine, plague, disease, natural disasters like floods, fires, and earthquakes. Let me explain it briefly. Primarily, we are His people according to Psalm 100:3, know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Secondly, in the Bible we read how time and again God delivered His people whenever they were in life threatening crises. There are so many examples to highlight from the Bible but a few are: God delivering the Israelites from Egyptian bondage (Exodus 3:7-10); God delivering Israel from a famine that was caused by the Assyrian siege (2 Kings 7:1-7); God delivering His people from the Assyrian attack (2 Kings 19:35-36). Thirdly, my own life experience gives me hope and assurance that God is able to deliver us from any enemy (visible or invisible) which threatens our lives, regardless of the enemy’s strength or influence.
Whenever there was a local or global crisis in human history, God intervened and delivered the afflicted community/communities from the crisis. For the Israelites, whenever surrounding nations attacked or during an outbreak of a destructive plague among the people, whether it was caused by the people’s sins or not, when people cried out to the Lord God Almighty for His mercy and help, He delivered them from these life-threatening situations. God promised such deliverance to every child of God who calls upon His name 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. My personal testimony of God’s faithfulness was when I fell ill to the point of death in 1985 and God who is compassionate and merciful, forgave my sins and healed my sickness. This was all as a result of godly people’s prayers and intercession on my behalf. When I think about that time now, I can join with the Psalmist (118:13-21) and testify that:
I was pushed back and about to fall, but the Lord helped me.
The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.
Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: “The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!
The Lord’s right hand is lifted high; the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!”
I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done.
The Lord has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death.
Open for me the gates of the righteous; I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord through which the righteous may enter.
I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation.
At that time, I was young and energetic, but, I was unproductive for God’s kingdom. Nonetheless, I called out to the Lord like king David did, Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me. You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead; you spared me from going down to the pit (Psalm 30:2-3). He heard my prayers and in His kindness and mercy He saved me. Today, I am grateful to God for not only releasing His mercy and loving kindness to me, but also for giving me another chance to live by extending my life till this moment. Ever since, I have lived more years than the age at which I became ill. If God withheld His mercies from me and did not forgive me or heal me, I would have moved out of this world about thirty-five years ago. In fact, God did a miracle in my life and spared my life. I am living proof and a testimony of His deliverance from death. In the light of my personal experience and my encounter with God, one thing is true – only God can deliver humanity from any danger, including the current COVID-19 pandemic. Trust in God who is the only hope and source of relief for humanity during this time of a worldwide crisis. God alone can deliver us and help us overcome. We need to allow God to work in our lives whether it is through miracles and wonders or through medicines/vaccines that can destroy the harmful viruses in our bodies. Primarily, we need to re-connect and reconcile with God. The only way to reconcile with God is through repentance and cleansing of our sins through the blood of Jesus Christ, establishing faith in Him (Ephesians 1:7), and prayer. We must always remember, God is just a prayer away. Therefore, let us pray, pray, and pray to God to help us overcome our present crisis – the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Lord God Almighty said, Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth (Psalm 46:10). It is time for us to trust in the Lord completely because I believe the post-COVID-19 season is going to be a better season than the pre-COVID-19 season. According to Isaiah 43:19, “Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?” Yes, God is about to do something new in the world and in our lives that No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him (1 Corinthians 2:9). God is inviting us to partner with Him as He begins to do a new thing in the world during the upcoming COVID-19 free era. It is God’s assurance to us that as mentioned in the book of Job, Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be (Job 8:7). There are several examples in the Scripture where we read of God’s caring nature for His people and to mention a few notable examples: Job, Joseph, David, and Esther. Let me explain briefly about God’s servant Job and his life experience (read the book of Job Chapters 1, 2, and 42). According to Job 1:1, Job was a blameless and upright man who feared God and shunned evil. Yet he faced the worst in his life. He lost his dearly loved children and all that he owned. In addition to this, he was afflicted with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head (Job 2:7). In order to get relief, he had to scratch himself with broken pottery and he sat in the ashes (Job 2:8). Even his wife told him to curse God, and die (Job 2:9). Job’s response to his wife was profound and it shows how much he loved and trusted God. He said to his wife, shall we receive good from God and shall we not receive evil? Despite all of his sorrowful life experiences, Job did not sin against God (Job 2:10). In the end, Job was justified before God and God healed him and blessed him with even more than he lost, including seven sons and three daughters (Job 1:2-3; 42:12-13).
God promises to answer us. He says, call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me (Psalm 50:15). Again in Psalm 46:1-3 it says, God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Let us join with king David (Psalm 27:1) and testify that The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? Believe that God is in control of all situations! Let us put our Trust in Him and Him alone. As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me. Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice (Psalm 55:16-17). Amen!
Elaboration (of the superscripts)
COVID-19 is the abbreviation of ‘Corona (CO), Virus (VI) Disease (D), year 2019 (19)
According to National Human Genome Research Institute, a virus is a small collection of genetic code surrounded by a protein coat. The surprising fact is that viruses can live only in living cells for their survival and they are incapable of multiplying by themselves. In the process of its survival and multiplying, it infects the living cells of the host in order to use the cellular components to multiply itself. Hence, these viruses are capable of multiplying within the living cells of humans and various animal species like bats, cats, and cattle. Ultimately, these viruses damage the host organisms by destroying the host cell and cause various viral diseases such as common cold, influenza, ebola, measles, smallpox, HIV/AIDS, COVID-19, and so on, in humans.
In this case, this virus is named ‘coronavirus’ because there is a sphere of spikes around this virus (corona or halo) due to a proteinaceous envelope. COVID-19 is just one member in the large family of coronaviruses.
SARS-CoV-2 stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2
