Who controls your life – Jesus or COVID19?

In both face-to-face conversations and on social media in the last couple weeks it seems like there’s a resurgent fear and worry about COVID. While COVID19 is a deadly serious virus and has cost hundreds of thousands of people their lives in the US alone, I believe the absolute control that fear seems to have over many people’s lives – particularly those who are Christians – is an equally as dangerous contagion. 

If you’re a follower of Jesus you need to ask yourself the question: who has more control over my life right now – Jesus or COVID19? Or, to phrase it more broadly, who has more control over my life; faith in Jesus or fear of _____? Fill in the blank with whatever the fear-inspiring thing of the moment is. 

Let’s start with a little self-diagnosis. We’ll contrast what a life under the control/authority of COVID looks like with a life that’s under the authority and control of Jesus. 

Under the authority of COVID

If your life is most under the control of fear of COVID you most likely:

• Evaluate every decision based on its level of risk of exposure
• Desperately read all the information you can on the state of COVID nationally and regionally (current number of cases, status of vaccine development, mortality percentage, political conversations related, etc)
• Are constantly mentally cycling back over the information you’ve taken in, questioning its accuracy and validity. 
• Being internally pulled back and forth, constantly questioning yourself and evaluate if you’ve made the right, safest choices.
• Talk, think, and feel more about/for COVID than you do Jesus.
• Have less space, time, and desire for prayer, scripture, and being in God’s presence.
• Are experiencing almost constant, impossible-to-turn-off worry, anxiety, and fear about not just COVID but about a thousand different things. 
• Prioritize your safety and the safety of those you care about over love.
• Have a definition of wisdom that has more to do with safety than faith. 
  • A good measurement of this – if Jesus was to call you to go spend an evening with someone you don’t know well who was sick with COVID, would you find lots of “wise” reasons to not go? If so, your definition of wisdom may not be biblical. 

Under the authority of Jesus

If your life is under faith in the authority of Jesus you most likely: 

• Evaluate decisions based on love, joy, peace, patience, etc (the fruit of the spirit)
• Attentively read information about the state of COVID when you’re able to
• Have a mental life is marked by peace, steadfastness, and patience
• Talk, think, and feel more about/for Jesus than you do COVID .
• Have seen an increase in desire for prayer, time in the Word, etc as things have gotten more uncertain.
• Prioritize doing what is loving, kind, and good
• Have a definition of wisdom that has more to do with faith than safety

The question

So, Christian, who is controlling your life right now? Faith in Jesus or fear of COVID? 

There’s a reason that one of the most common commands in scripture is, “fear not.” That phrase alone appears 70 times in the NIV, not counting variations. Verses like:  

• “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” – John 14:27
• “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9
• “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” – Psalm 23:4
• “When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.” – Psalm 94:19
• “The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?” – Psalm 27:1
• “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” – Matthew 10:28

To name just a few.

Clearly a life controlled by fear goes in direct opposition of God’s desire, intent, and command for his people. If you’re a follower of Jesus and COVID (or politics, or any other earthly thing) is at the forefront of your mind and heart stirring up fear and controlling how you live it’s time to repent. COVID makes a terrible master.

Receive the freedom that’s in Jesus. Don’t let your view of him be so small that a virus has more functional power over your life than He does. After all, what is the threat of death to those of us who are in Christ? “If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” (Rom. 14:8)