This is part of our series, Discipleship & the Coronavirus, featuring posts written by GABC members on what God is teaching them during the coronavirus pandemic.
You may read the entire series here.
by Pastor Michael Felkins
In Part 1, I addressed two viruses—the coronavirus and the virus of fear. The former can encourage the latter. In this post, I offer a few ideas for turning our eyes away from the pandemic and to our Lord, for feeding ourselves with his Word and loving our neighbor as ourselves.
Instead of a steady diet of cable, podcast and social media news, allow me a suggestion. Along with your social distancing, practice some media distancing. Take extended time away from these media outlets and do some Bible intake.
Loving God & Neighbor
Practice loving the Lord and your neighbor in these ways:
- Read or listen to Hosea from beginning to end. It takes about 33 minutes to listen to the whole book of Hosea on audio.
- Journal your thoughts as we go through the pandemic and see how God shapes your heart during this time. Don’t worry about grammar or spelling; just get it all out on the page first.
- Memorize Romans 8 and let the gospel shape your heart in crisis. Notice how Romans 8 begins with no condemnation and ends with no separation.
- Memorize Psalm 91.
- Using the church directory, pray for every member of GABC out loud by name.
- Call people in the church to check on them:
- older members who live alone. See if they need anything.
- single adults who live alone. If they are comfortable with getting together, have them over to your house. If they are not, then pray for them on the phone or video chat.
- Check on new members of Grand. Don’t let them fall between the cracks.
- Email, text, or call our college students whose semester has been completely turned upside down.
- Video or call your small group members.
- Check on your neighbors.
People are understandably fearful right now. They need the hope and assurance of the person and work of Christ.
A Word from the Doctor
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones tells the story of a lady in his church that was struggling with fear. He said:
I remember a lady once, some twenty years ago, coming to me of a crippling problem in her spiritual life. She told me that she has a terrible horror and dread of thunderstorms. Apparently she had once been in a bad thunderstorm, and it had looked as if she might be killed. Ever since then the fear of thunder and lightning had gripped her, and it had come to such a pass that if she was going to a place of worship and happened to see a large cloud, she would begin to say to herself, “A thunderstorm is coming!” So there would be a terrible conflict within her, and it usually ended in her turning back and going home . . . She told me that she had struggled with this problem and had done her best to get rid of it.
Now it seemed to me that the one thing to say to that woman was this—and it came as a shock to her, “Stop praying about this particular fear, for while you are praying, you are reminding yourself of it. You must stop thinking about yourself in terms of fear. Never think about thunderstorms; turn your back upon that altogether. You must think of yourself as a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ and as one who belongs to Him. You must concentrate upon positive Christianity, not upon a negative fear.”[1]
Remember the Gospel
Brothers and sisters, let us preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to ourselves. The greatest fear we had is that the wrath of God was upon us for the virus of our sin that had already killed us spiritually. The Lord Jesus drank the cup of the poison virus of our sin so that we may be raised to life in Him. Jesus drew that poison out of our hearts and took it into Himself. He destroyed the killer virus of sin by His death on the cross.
Therefore, preach to your heart the victory of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and run to His roar, which does not create fear but gives us the confidence to come boldly before the throne of Almighty God, who holds all things and governs all things from microbes to missiles.
May the Lamb Who Is Worthy Receive His Reward,
Pastor Michael
[1] Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Walking with God Day by Day, edited by Robert Backhouse, March 26