by Jon
COVID-19.
The biggest news that captured the entire world in a matter of weeks.
In Singapore where no day goes by without updates on the news or social media on the global statistics of those infected or who died as a result of COVID-19. For some countries, governments institute tight measures to stem tides of infection while total quarantine has been imposed in other countries, stopping economies and life as they know it.
Many people have written about COVID-19, offering insights, warnings, and predictions. Many Christians have written about it, encouraging the church despite this trying period and mobilizing us on how to serve our communities who are facing various troubles. So when considering the article for this quarter, I ask myself: What more can I add on to this issue?
I was listening to a podcast by an economist who remarked that no matter what happens during this period that we are plagued with COVID-19, the post-COVID world will be very different.
This set me thinking that, despite being more widespread than the recent disease outbreaks of SARS, Ebola or H1N1, COVID-19 will eventually pass. And what is left for us is a question on how we are to deal with a post-COVID world with its new challenges and risks.
When thinking of this, I am reminded of Noah. He was faced with the threat of the world as he knew it coming to an end. He was told by God about a global flooding even when he could not fathom how it would happen. He prepared based on the promise of God. And when the rains came and the water levels rose, he bore witness to deaths at an unprecedented level, with the familiar landscape around him disappearing as the waters took over.
What struck me was after the 40 days of rain were over and as Noah apprehensively opened the window in the ark. He sent a raven and then a dove, with the dove bringing back a single olive leaf before not returning the next time it was sent out.
I wonder what was going on in Noah’s mind during this period. Did a thought flash through his mind that the olive leaf was just a single leaf the dove picked up floating on the water, and instead of receding, the waters were still high outside the boat? Could he have wondered whether the raven and dove died outside the ark in the waters instead of escaping to freedom to a post-flood dried land?
Was the danger still there despite all the signs of peace?
During this time it is good for us to keep ourselves and our families safe, keeping the necessary precautions of social distancing and cleanliness to prevent the spread of the disease. But my hope is that we do not get too caught up with our present circumstances but take some time to cast our eyes beyond our present troubling circumstances to a future where COVID-19 would eventually pass.
When we see signs of normalcy returning, would we still be plagued by remnant fears and worries? Would we question whether this is just a calm before the next storm, hiding to wait and see?
Or would we be willing to be like Noah and remove the covering of the ark and open its doors, confident that the Lord has brought us through this trial, ready to be a witness for Him and keeping our eyes out for opportunities to serve.
Despite Noah’s courage to take God at His promise and open up the ark, I love how his first act of stepping out of the ark was not to explore this vast new land but instead, following his life before the flood, he built an altar and sacrificed burnt offerings in thanksgiving to God.
So even as we weather through this challenging time marred by COVID-19, my hope is that even as we step out on the other side into this new land, may we remember that it is God who has seen us through this and to give Him thanks, knowing that heaven and earth may pass away, but God and His faithfulness will always remain.
“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” Habbakuk 3:17-18
Jon and Phoebe's thetomyumkongs journey. 