Elder Compass - August 2020

By: Stephanie Copeland

Reflections in the Midst of a Global Pandemic

These are uncertain times even as we are at the end of five months of isolation. The global pandemic caused by COVID-19 has been transforming the lives of millions of people in a way most of us never imagined. Changes have been taking place so quickly that most of the world’s populations have been caught off guard.

We are all trying to adapt to this new reality in the hope that the pandemic will end soon, although we are now beginning to see that it is impossible to predict how long it will last and what long-term consequences it will have for all.

In these days of crisis and home confinement I, as well as others I have heard and read about, have been meditating on different principles based on their perspective of being a follower of Jesus. As a nurse, I have always understood that life is short and people can be fragile. However this crisis has shed light on this perspective in a whole new way. We all have weathered crises in our lives but collectively as a society we have never lived through a global pandemic shutting down our world.

We make plans for vacations, weddings, retirement, etc. as if we can control life but this pandemic has closed the door right in our faces. A very small microorganism has destroyed the plans of all that we had hoped to do today, tomorrow, next month and possibly for another year. The only source of true security is our God.

God cares for us, as mentioned in Psalm 121. We can corroborate that through all of Scripture and many of us have experienced it throughout our lives. May you find peace during this time of isolation and suffering in the fact that our God is watching over us and walking side by side with us.

I lift up my eyes to the hills—from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 121:1-2