THEE EPIDEMIC

Philippians 4:6

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Truthfully — not being anxious about anything is impossible — especially amidst this current epidemic. Yes we have our faith, trust, prayer etc., but we’re human. The third definition of human in the Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines human as: a representative of, or susceptible to the sympathies and frailties of human nature. One of those frailties is our irresistible anxiety towards uncertainty; we dread what we don’t know. A day may feel like a year during times of great tribulation. Our trust in God is being put to the test more than ever.

Isaiah 41:13

For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”

Whether we’re religious or spiritual we can still trust in a divine force more powerful than ourselves. Fearlessness isn’t always about our ability to tackle everything or to remain strong in difficult situations, it’s also the ability to surrender our trust to God. Harriet Tubman, one of the most influential African Americans, escaped from slavery in 1849, using the Underground Railroad to make a 90-mile trip from Maryland to Philadelphia. She was very uncertain about her future, and she went through a plethora of tribulation. She’s now one of the most revered women (not just black woman) in the world. Surrendering our trust to God when we’re almost out of money, almost out of food, losing loved ones, or just stressing from limited activity is actually a very courageous thing to do. In fact, by doing this, we’re spreading hope to the people that we love most. Their strength may be dependent upon how well we stand in your walk with God.

Galatians 5:22

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith...

We must endure hardships.

We must battle with evil.

And we must resist temptations.

All in all — we must experience difficult moments. There’s really no way around the reality that we’re in times of great emotional and economical distress. Our spirit needs love and joy, gentleness and faith, peace and goodness — but long suffering is life’s alarm clock; sternly reminding us of our frailties. Now we’re being reminded daily to never take anything for granted and to have faith. In Man’s Search for Meaning, psychiatrist and neurologist Viktor Frankl wrote about his ordeal as a concentration camp inmate during the Second World War. He found that those who survived the longest in concentration camps weren’t those who were physically strong, but those who maintained a sense of hope in a brighter future; faith. There’s going to be times where we feel utterly hopeless and pathetic. Times where our weaknesses consume our very existence to the point where we’re drowning in our own vulnerability. Don’t surrender to your fears — surrender your fears. Surrender everything to God. Do what you can to control what you can; attitude, habits, kindness etc. Let God take care of the rest and trust that your dots will connect. Be well, and most importantly — be blessed.

Thank you very much for reading and for being a part of this colony; THEE colony. We’re all in this together and we’ll come out better. Diamonds are made under pressure, and with more than 25 million people unemployed, there’s clearly a lot of pressure. But guess what — there’s going to be a lot of diamonds when this is over.

Stay safe.