When the news started breaking about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in China my mind raced back to the moment we received a call to go to the hospital (we didn't know our oldest son hadn't been feeling well). I would not wish that weekend on anyone. Ian was as strong as an ox. He worked in a dangerous setting. He and I talked about the kind of accidents that could happen often with humor. So there was an underlying realization that he could be seriously hurt or killed on the job. The last thing we would have guessed was a tiny little virus felling a giant of a guy. There is not a day that goes by we are not thinking of him.
Yet, there is another reality, our faith in Jesus. "[We have been hard] pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair...Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." We know we will see Ian again.
We received comfort and therefore we can comfort others. We have received hope because our faith, our loyalty is fixed in who Jesus is and what he has accomplished.
So:
- If you are not feeling well, please, call your mother!
- Appreciate the time you spend with family and friends
- Fix your eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
