Transplanting and Sustaining: Covid-19 Special Issue

On Faith and the Coronavirus
Serena Puang
You don’t need another coronavirus
article. That wasn’t true the first time
I sat down to write this. Back then, in
January, coronavirus was still a distant
phenomenon. It was something
that was happening an ocean away in
China. My dad was visiting his family
in Malaysia at the time, and when he
came back, members of our church
asked my family to quarantine themselves
in case he was exposed to something
at the airport. It felt almost crazy
at the time, but out of love, my family
complied.
As a nurse, my mom has followed
coronavirus news even before it saturated
the media. She lamented the
lack of precautions her hospital was
taking against possible infection, sifted
through fake news, and each time we
talked, provided me with snapshots of
the situation in Asia which she collected
from friends and friends of friends.
Over the last few months, I’ve watched
as those snapshots became stories in
major news outlets. Those precautions
and preventative measures that felt a
world away are now on our doorstep.
Just weeks ago, we were all on campus.
Now, we won’t be returning. This
looks different for everyone. Personally,
I’m fortunate enough to be home in
an area where there aren’t many cases.
But for so many, campus is home,
and the sudden loss of access to dining
halls and university accommodations
poses a serious hardship. I don’t claim
to know what’s best for everyone at this
time. It really depends on your personal
context, and I’ll leave dictation
of health-related best practices to the
professionals.
My church decided that we wouldn’t
meet as a congregation on Sunday and
the local state university closed today.
I wonder what faithfulness looks like
here. I think for me, this time away is
providing a rare opportunity to reassess
how I spend my time. What will
it look like to “do Yale” without being
chronically busy with extracurriculars?
What was so important anyway?
I’m sad that I probably won’t see my
Yale friends for a while, but I think this
is where God has me right now, and I
don’t want to miss the opportunity to
keep walking faithfully with Him here
because I’m pining away for what I
could have in Connecticut. As more
schools are moving online, my friends
who went out of state for college are
coming back one by one, and this is
probably the only time we’ll all be together
again. I can’t help but think that
this isn’t just a coincidence.
I spend so much time at Yale wishing
my community at home was different.
There are things I’d want to change at
church, people I wish I had gotten to
know better, and ways I wish I could
be present in my high school to advise
students, but I’m always too far away
to change anything. Now I’m right
here, and I’m praying for the next step
in faithfulness.
We don’t know how this moment will
be remembered in history. Once past,
moments like these have a tendency to
dull in significance. But I know that the
choices we make now matter.
Being at home is not like being at Yale,
but I believe we’re all called to continue
walking in faithfulness wherever
we find ourselves. Faith in the face of
coronavirus is not blindly insisting on
meeting as a church per usual and ignoring
the real dangers that this pandemic
can pose for people (though
many churches are still faithfully meeting
and taking precautions). It is not ignoring
the problem or wishing it away.
That’s not what’s modeled for us in
the Bible. Much of the prayers and
laments in the Old Testament are examples
of people coming to God with
their problems and asking how long
He’ll allow bad things to continue.
In Psalms, David asks God why He’s
abandoned him or why He feels so far
away. The inclusion of these moments
in the Bible leads me to believe that acknowledging
the problem and lamenting
over the lives that are lost is a valid
and biblical response.
But we shouldn’t stop there.
As my discipler frequently reminds
me, these examples of lament in the
Bible don’t stop at acknowledging the
problem. Ultimately, they “tell God
who God is and ask him to be that
God now”. In my experience, I’ve
come to realize that crying out to God
is an exercise in faith and hope. Faith
that God is listening and hope that He
cares enough to something about it.
Faith means turning to Jesus and resting
in the peace that God is sovereign
over all things, including pandemics.
In that sense, faith here looks the same
as it does in any situation where we
don’t understand what is going on.
We should excel at the revealed things
like loving our neighbors and caring
for strangers. For me, that might mean
doing more around the house to support
my mom as she continues to work
at the hospital. It could mean driving
my sister to school or reconnecting
with friends whom I’ve drifted away
from in college and supporting them
through their anxieties.
We should pray for wisdom to move
forward and wait on the Lord to reveal
it. And when we find ourselves in the
midst of uncertainty, we should bring
those to God too. His promises are still
true, He is still in control, and He still
cares for you.
Maybe these are our new extracurriculars.
Cast all your anxiety on him because he
cares for you. -1 Peter 5:7
Prayer in the Face of Coronavirus
Father God,
You are sovereign over all things,
all-powerful, and in control,
You are the great healer and the God
of peace,
So we ask you to heal and to give us
peace in the midst of difficult situations.
There is so much brokenness in the
world,
So much that needs to be made right,
And we thank you that one day, you
will make things right.
Please be with the families who are
grieving right now,
And with those who share in their
grief.
Please be with those who are traveling,
And give us wisdom on when to be
with people
And when to love from a distance.
Things are confusing right now,
So many things are up in the air.
Give us the strength to move forward
And protect us from our fear.
You are not the author of confusion
but of peace,
Please help us as we work out the
logistics of staying home longer than
we planned,
Staying with friends,
Or in unexpected places,
Whether at home or far from it.
Give us eyes to see what you’re calling
us to:
The people who are hurting you
want us to comfort,
The small ways we can love our
families, our neighbors, and strangers
in your name,
And the next step in faithfulness
that you’re asking us to take.
Amen.
.
4 Covid-19: Spring 2020 logos . 5