{"id":53590,"date":"2020-04-07T14:15:52","date_gmt":"2020-04-07T19:15:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/?p=53590"},"modified":"2025-08-06T12:47:53","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T17:47:53","slug":"covid-19-the-best-and-worst-of-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/covid-19-the-best-and-worst-of-times\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19, the Best and Worst of Times"},"content":{"rendered":"
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My ten-year-old son, Asher, turned to me in response to those who are struggling to make sense of the coronavirus: \u201c\u2026but Dad, this world is broken!\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

Everyone is affected by the spread of COVID-19, particularly the most vulnerable members of society — it\u2019s heartbreaking! However, it\u2019s wonderful to see many moved to reach out to others with kindness, care, and compassion.<\/p>\n

\n

Truly, it\u2019s the best of times and the worst of times.<\/h2>\n

Fear and anxiety flows from the things we don\u2019t know\u2026
\n> We don\u2019t know the true impact of this pandemic.
\n> We don\u2019t know who has been infected, or who will be infected.
\n> We don\u2019t know how this will affect the health and well-being of our loved ones.
\n> We don\u2019t know the economic outcome, for us and for the country.
\nYet, the coronavirus highlights three things we do know, and must never forget to remember\u2026<\/p>\n

\n

1. This world is broken! <\/strong><\/h2>\n

The outbreak of COVID-19 could be described as a natural phenomenon. Despite this, we view it as an aberration, something that ought to be eradicated because the world would be a better place without it. It\u2019s universally accepted as a problem, a symptom of a bigger problem: this world is broken!
\nI\u2019ve had countless conversations in different countries, pointing out the fact that this world is broken. No one has turned to me and said, \u201cOh, no, it isn\u2019t!\u201d It\u2019s a profound statement that deserves an explanation.
\nAuthor C.S. Lewis put it like this in his classic, Mere Christianity<\/em><\/a>: \u201cA man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line.\u201d You call a line crooked because you have a standard for a straight line, otherwise a crooked line is not crooked, it\u2019s just different.
\nIn the same way, the coronavirus is a sign of something gone wrong in the world. So we must have an idea of the way the world ought to be — and this isn\u2019t it! Suddenly the natural world doesn\u2019t come naturally, which means we implicitly hold to a higher standard, above and beyond this world. In the face of the coronavirus, don\u2019t forget to remember this world is broken. The second thing is this\u2026<\/p>\n

2. You\u2019re not a speck, you\u2019re special! <\/strong><\/h2>\n

A pandemic puts lives at risk on a mass scale, and the common goal is to fight the infection and overcome it. It\u2019s not about saving society. It\u2019s about saving lives. We don\u2019t want to weigh each person to see if he or she is worthy, we\u2019re willing to fight for the weakest of the weak — those who cannot fight for themselves. You\u2019re not a speck, you\u2019re special. Another profound statement that deserves an explanation. This doesn\u2019t follow from a purely physical world that suggests we\u2019re less than a speck in this vast universe. This doesn\u2019t follow from any evolutionary mechanism that suggests our selfish genes should drive us to survive at the expense of the weak.
\nThe fight against COVID-19 is fought on the basis every person is stamped with absolute value, which means we implicitly hold to a higher standard, above and beyond this world. Don\u2019t forget to remember this world is broken; you\u2019re not a speck, you\u2019re special; and finally, don\u2019t forget to remember\u2026<\/p>\n

3. There\u2019s got to be more to life than this! <\/strong><\/h2>\n

The world has been changed by the coronavirus. It\u2019s going to leave a deep scar on society. Still, there will come a day when it is no longer on the front page and it\u2019s no longer a global threat. That will be a day to celebrate, but not for long\u2026
\n> Hospitals will continue to treat men, women and children who are seriously ill.
\n> Lives will still be lost on a daily basis, with families grieving the loss of loved ones.
\n> Even the healthy know the clock is ticking, winding down toward the end of life.
\n> Funerals are never easy, and the one thing guaranteed in life — death — is difficult to accept. There\u2019s got to be more to life than this!
\nAnother profound statement that deserves an explanation. When someone dies, we feel sad. It\u2019s as if this person ought to have lived longer. How much longer? The dream would be we finally figure out a way to live forever, because no matter how long we live, it never seems long enough.
\nThe coronavirus reminds us of our mortality and the expectation there\u2019s got to be more to life than this, which means we implicitly hold to a higher standard, above and beyond this world. In the face of COVID-19 we must never forget to remember.<\/p>\n

\n

This world is broken. You\u2019re not a speck, you\u2019re special! There\u2019s got to be more to life than this.<\/h3>\n
\n

Three profound statements that deserve explanation. Three profound statements that show we implicitly hold to a higher standard, above and beyond this world. Otherwise this world is what it is, and it shouldn\u2019t be any other way. Every person is just an insignificant speck in this vast universe. Life is short and death is the end of everything.
\nSome argue these sound disappointing, but we need to grow up and face the facts. But why believe these are the facts if they don\u2019t fit? Why is every person born with an expectation for so much more? Why ignore the pieces of the puzzle that take us in another direction?
\nI want to make explicit what we implicitly hold to be true: we hold to a higher standard, above and beyond this world. That\u2019s why we know the world is broken. That\u2019s why we know every person\u2019s life is absolutely valuable. That\u2019s why we know there\u2019s got to be more to life than this.
\nI want to talk about the claims of the Christian worldview. The Bible is not a fairy story for the weak and uninformed. The Bible tells us God\u2019s story, which is His-story and it rings true. The Bible tells us this world is broken. COVID-19 is not the way things ought to be, and we ought to do our best to eradicate it. The Bible tells us you\u2019re not a speck, you\u2019re special. We ought to fight for every life, since every person is made in the image of God.<\/p>\n

\n

The Bible tells us there\u2019s got to be more to life than this, and there is! The Bible says this life will never be long enough because we were created to spend eternity with God.<\/h3>\n

I often use the ordinary jigsaw puzzle as a tool to help make sense of the world, to make sense of others and to make sense of ourselves. Why? We know we\u2019ll never find all the answers, but we don\u2019t need every piece of a puzzle to see the big picture<\/strong><\/a>. The Bible is like the picture on the box. It is the right guide to life, and it helps us see enough to know the truth!
\nMany thanks to guest blogger Alex McLellan.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

NEXT STEPS:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

1. <\/span><\/span>Do you want to know God<\/a> <\/strong>personally or need someone to pray<\/a><\/strong> for you?\u00a0<\/span>
\n3. Consider meeting with an online <\/span>counselor<\/a><\/strong> or exploring more counseling resources at <\/span><\/strong>josh.org\/find-help<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My ten-year-old son, Asher, turned to me in response to those who are struggling to make sense of the coronavirus: \u201c\u2026but Dad, this world is broken!\u201d Everyone is affected by the spread of COVID-19, particularly the most vulnerable members of society — it\u2019s heartbreaking! However, it\u2019s wonderful to see many moved to reach out to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23327,"featured_media":87737,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Truly, COVID-19 is the best of times and the worst of times. Yet, there are three things we can know, because of the Bible. READ & WATCH >>","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[915,350,916,917,851,891,918],"translator":[],"blog-author":[73],"class_list":["post-53590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bridging-the-gap","tag-covid-19","tag-hope","tag-hurt","tag-loss","tag-mental-health","tag-pain","tag-win","blog-author-guest-blogger"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/607\/2024\/01\/image_1.png","meta_box":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23327"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53590"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92814,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53590\/revisions\/92814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53590"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/translator?post=53590"},{"taxonomy":"blog-author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog-author?post=53590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}