COVID-19 Sadly Revealing all We've Taken for Granted

Ever since Ghana started confirming cases of the novel corona virus (covid-19), I have not been very productive. All I find myself doing is following tweets on my personal handle to know the latest. I think I am currently suffering from the effect of its information overload and I am not proud to say I feel a little anxious on how things will eventually turn out.

Speaking about my country, we cannot boast of the best healthcare systems and the number of health workers are frankly inadequate. I watch how countries with better healthcare systems are struggling to contain the corona virus and I look at my country’s and I shudder (not too proud of this either).

Currently, Ghana has recorded 16 new cases with some suspicions of community transfers. My work place is among the ones that has been shut down because of the threat of the virus so I’ve been in isolation.

It has been my fervent prayer that God shows scientists and pharmacologists and pharmacists what is needed to fight this virus and after we successfully kick it out, I resolve:

1. Never to take the gift of life for granted – Most of us wake up each day, muffle something that sounds like a prayer and go about our duties but when you begin to see the number of deaths being recorded as a result of a virus, you’d realise that indeed, life and good health are gifts from God.
2. Never to trust in my own abilities – There is an advert on DSTV where a man seem to have made a lot of plans for himself and keeps using the phrase, “what could go wrong?” I think that was the phase our generation found itself in until recently. We seem to have put our hopes in our own abilities and what technology can do for us but this virus seem to have ruffled a lot of feathers. Now, we see that science is limited, thus, only a greater power can help us fight this. Even the most powerful world leaders are setting special days to seek God’s face.
3. Never to be lackadaisical when it comes to praying for my country and the world – When the church organises prayer retreats and the topic is, ‘Now, let’s pray for financial breakthroughs.’ That is when you see fervency in the prayer of believers but immediately that is switched to ‘pray for our country and the world,‘ the level of urgency in our prayers becomes low. Covid-19 shows the need of praying constantly for our own country and the world as whole.

Even though I admit that these are trying times for everyone, I believe that God is showing us how limited we are as individuals, thus, the need to rely solely on Him. I still say my prayer for the world in these special times and I believe without any doubt that we’ll overcome this.

Let’s continue to observe the rules of social distancing, not touching our faces, washing our hands with soap and water and sanitizing them regularly. I trust that we’ll open our eyes in a few days to realise that this period is over.

In the meantime, let’s remember what God has promised us in Psalm 91:

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.[a]
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.”

3 Surely he will save you
    from the fowler’s snare
    and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
    nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
    nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
    ten thousand at your right hand,
    but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
    and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
    and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
    no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
    you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 “Because he[b] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
    I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
    I will be with him in trouble,
    I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
    and show him my salvation.”