An enemy to humanity

Is it really a virus the one that is a posing an enemy to humanity? Seems that way doesn’t it?

Fear, troubled hearts, worry, uncertainty, anxiety and dread have all become part of so many lives where before perhaps there was none.

Today I was reminded of a group of people that faced these things for several years between 1940-1945. I walked over to my bookshelf and pulled out a very well known book. “The Diary of a Young Girl” – by Anne Frank. 

Remember her story? Remember history? If you don’t, it is time to take advantage of this ‘quarantine’ or ‘stay home’ time, in order to catch up on your reading.

Anne Frank, the Dutch girl whom, together with her family and several others, hid for 2 years in the secret annex behind her dad’s office on the “Prinsengracht” in the heart of Amsterdam.

As I opened the book, browsing and turning the pages, it was as if I was taken back in time. The personal stories of a 13 year old, penned down for the world to read. That wasn’t her plan, but it soon turned out that she herself realized that it could be published one day. Little did she know it would, but she would live to see it.

After reading a few pages I came across this part in which she describes what her people “the Jews” were no longer able to do: forbidden to use trams, ride cars, go to theaters, cinemas or any other form of entertainment, swimming pools, tennis courts or other athletic fields. They were only allowed on the street in the day, but after 8pm they had to be inside. Allowed to shop only between 3-5pm. Many things were now forbidden to them.

Today, all over the world, we are told a lot of “do nots” these days, due to an enemy out there that is coming after us.

Of course there is no way we can compare today with the suffering of the Jewish people during the World War, in which millions lost their lives at the hand of evil, expressed through human beings. That suffering was something we should never ever allow itself to repeat, yet are we paying attention to what is happening in our world today.

While there is a real threat to humanity with a virus that is causing physical casualties and bringing deep fear, worried hearts, anguish and uncertainty, it is also an enemy that is making us realize we have no control over it. Our fear doesn’t help us to control the spread, our worry doesn’t change the pattern of where it decides to go, our troubled hearts don’t cause this enemy to stay away. So what do we do?

How do we face this enemy to humanity? We stop doing things we normally do. We are told we can’t do this and we can’t do that. And we agree, right? We do what we are told, “wash your hands.” We do our best to protect those we love, praying it won’t ‘reach’ or ‘catch’ us. And yet we can not really see where it goes, we just know what it does and how it decides to travel.

Try to catch the wind, how do you do that? It goes where it wants, blows as hard as it wants, unannounced, unexpected.

Mankind has gone through so much, there has been so many enemies, some we rather not talk about or should we?

Today it is not an enemy, in the form of an army, seeking to kill one people group. Today we are faced with an enemy that seeks to take down humanity. Our lives as we know it. It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor, from this continent or the other. It just goes where it wants. It is disrupting life as we know it.

Don’t go here, don’t go there. Stay put, stay home, stay calm and change the way you clean yourself. If you washed your hands before, wash them again then wash them some more. Stay away from each other, keep a distance.

Not only lives, but the way we do live has changed within a matter of days. Jobs lost, social contact face to face lost (except for online), community lost, perhaps even relationships lost. How do overcome, how do we keep moving in this ‘new normal’? Or is there another enemy we need to be looking at as we try to stay ‘away’ from the one we hear about?

I ask, is it the virus that is the real enemy to humanity?

Hate, evil, anger, slander, gossip, murder, greed, idolatry, lust, power, pride, and probably a whole bunch of other ones, aren’t these a daily threat to mankind, to humanity?

Do we deal with these the same way we deal with this virus, do we look at how evil, anger and hate spreads? Do we try to stop it? Do we change the way we do life to stop evil? To stop murder, to stop greed, to stop pride? Do we?

I ask, is the virus the real enemy to humanity?

Agreed, the virus is a real threat, an enemy that needs to be stopped, before it stops us. But I would like us to remember that there are many deeply rooted issues in us, in mankind, in our lives that spread like wildfire, that cause death, that cause suffering, that cause affliction every day.

What if we worked on that as well? What if we changed our lives, instead of hating, we would love. Instead of greed we would be generous? Instead of pride we would practice humility? Instead of being right, we would ask for forgiveness?

Is that even possible? Yes it is.

There is an answer to those threats. His name is Jesus Christ. He lived his life in full view of man, humble, not self-seeking, full of love, giving up His life, so that we might have life.

We might not be able to stop a virus from affecting our broken lives, but we can stop having broken lives, by allowing Jesus to heal them.

He heals. He restores. He forgives. He raises up. He redeems. He saves.

May we take time, during these days of obligated ‘rest’, to reflect on what really tries to attack who we are, what poses a threat to who we are, what is a true enemy to our humanity. May we find grace and favor to go through these days. May He bring us fresh revelation on who He is, so we know who we are.

We are created by our Creator, one of a kind, unique. Loved by our Creator and anything that goes against how He created us is an enemy to our humanity.

Jesus is the only way, the truth and the life. He is the Word, He is alive. His truth penetrates our lives, our souls, our spirits and the attitudes of our heart.

Let’s allow Him in….