Faith and Reducing Coronavirus induced Panic

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Hebrews 11:1

This Saturday, while having lunch at a local restaurant, the general manger came to our table to ask us how my wife and I were doing. We replied, very well; How are you? Our reply set off a lengthy explanation of his panic. He was afraid he might have to close the restaurant with his business off seventy five percent. In his eyes, I could see real fear. The kind of fear that unsettles our stomach, weakens our knees and causes us to labor on the easiest of tasks.

With our friends and family, we also have heard and seen fear. Supermarket shelves are being emptied. Hand sanitizer is being sold on the street for fifty dollars a bottle. True panic seems to abound.

A disquieting sense of being seems to be present in all that we see and hear. Panic caused by a lack of control of people’s lives and events.

Each announcement of school and store closings seems to raise the fear level higher. Watching television, you hear even more information that stiffens your body. The stock market is violently swinging in turmoil, causing people to wonder; how much will their savings go down? All around us fear seems to be growing faster than the Coronavirus itself, which is at the root of people’s fear.

But our fear, is just that, fear. People are forgetting that fear breeds fear. Fear is not tangible or something you can touch. But a vicious psychological marauder that seeks harm. Not physical harm, but emotional.

Panic causes bad decisions, when more than ever good ones are required. Panic causes unsteady steps, when the steps of life need to be sure.