Christians in the Pandemic

Times like these are painful and difficult. Many have become prey to this pandemic already. We have no clue how many lives would be lost due to this and when will this come to an end.

Humans suffered many epidemics and natural disasters until now. At the moment we are witnessing a pandemic. I think this cycle will continue. And the reason for this is that we live in a fallen world.

The fall affected us as well as the world in which we live. As the man dies, and our physical bodies decay, the world will be destroyed too. It is a vain fantasy to hope that our lives would get better on this earth. No efforts of man will ever make this world a better place to live.

The apostle Peter says, “But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men” (2 Peter 3:7).

While the earth is bound for destruction, believers should be hopeful while living in this world. Yet in another epistle, Peter wrote to the first-century suffering believers and was about to face even more severe trials for their faith (1 Peter 4:12). He encourages those believers to be hopeful amid those trials.

We need these reminders because we easily forget the purpose of our lives and get adjusted to our comforts and tend to think that our comfort zones are normative. But the trials in life remind us who we are.

While we are in this lockdown situation, this will probably reorient our lives. The Apostle Peter addresses the believers who reside in this world as ‘aliens’ or ‘exiles.’ Which means ‘those who are passing through’ and our lives on earth are temporary. Which means that our relationships, the houses that we build to live, and our careers and work are temporary.

Living as exiles doesn’t mean that we can be careless while we live here on earth. The Apostle Peter encourages the believers unto a proper life while as exiles:

“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts . . .” 1 Peter 1:14

“. . . like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.” 1 Peter 1:15

“. . . conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth.” 1 Peter 1:17

“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, 14 or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.” 1 Peter 2:13, 14

Therefore, believers living on earth as exiles or aliens means living on earth with a sense of having our citizenship in heaven and living here with a longing to be with Christ and to enjoy Him forever.

The Apostle John said, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is” (1 John 3:2). He continues to say that, “And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:3).

All the people of Christ should live with this hope and longing to be with our Lord. We must also long to be like our Lord, which will encourage us to live like Him while we are here on this earth. The Bible calls this as our Christian hope. We are disoriented people if we do not live with this longing. And now and then our worlds and comfort zones are shaken to reorient us.

Living with hope is very important because we know that we are not doomed even when our lives here on earth are temporarily shaken through trials, sufferings, sickness and death. And that is the reason, the Apostle Peter says, “. . . fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13).

And this hope is not wishful thinking. Many of us hope for many things. We hope to buy a new car, a new gadget, and we hope for an increment in the salary, a promotion, a beautiful spiritual wife, a rich godly husband, a small and a happy family, for a good and secured life (all this is wishful thinking). We live in a world of fantasy. Self and greed control our dreams and wishes. Such wishful thinking does not have a base from the Bible. And such thoughts will encourage us to focus more on ourselves, our problems, our future, our potential, & etc. Thus, making us ineffective and unfruitful for the Kingdom of God and His purposes.

Biblical hope is not like wishful thinking. It is God’s promise to His people and therefore, it is dependent on the faithfulness of God. God is true to His Word and is unchanging in His character. He is also able to accomplish all His promises. And our lives should be characterized by faith in God and His word.

Did God promise us health, wealth and prosperity? It is not biblical to trust Jesus for health, wealth and prosperity. Therefore, it is an unbiblical faith. God did not promise such things, but He promised us biblical hope, a hope that will not fade away. Does this blessed hope control your heart? Anchor you? Relieve you? This biblical hope should fashion our lives, desires, ambitions and even our hobbies. We live here in light of our eternity. Our failure to trust the promised hope is a failure to trust God.  

Even now, during this pandemic, God expects us to be hopeful. We should remember God’s promises to us.  And the biblical hope should drive us while we are living here as exiles.