Devotionals

Let’s Rise Again from the Prolonged Pandemic!

By ayu single · November 17, 2021 · 6 min read

Rise up. After experiencing the pandemic since March 2020 until now, November 2021, perhaps rising up is what is on your mind right now. Most likely, we are already tired of the pandemic situation that has kept us bound all this time.

But how? Perhaps that is also what you are thinking right now. The Covid-19 pandemic seems likely to become a dark chapter in history that will be hard for many people to forget. So many people have lost the ones they love in a short period of time. Unprecedented challenges to public health , food, and the world of work have paralyzed human economic and social life.

Based on WHO data in October 2021, ten million people are at risk of falling into extreme poverty. Meanwhile, the number of undernourished people is estimated to have reached nearly 690 million. The number is still expected to increase by another 132 million by the end of the year!

And, after nearly two years in this difficult position, perhaps this is the time for you and me to rise up! How?

4 Ways to Rise Again from the Pandemic

1. Decide to Get Up and Rise Again

Jesus said to him, "Get up, pick up your mat and walk." – John 5:8

There was a man who had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years, lying beside the pool of Bethesda near the Sheep Gate (John 5:1-18) And when Jesus saw this man, Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be healed?”

The same is true for you today. How long have you been “lying down”? Becoming someone who just lies around in despair? Frustrated because you lost your job, your business failed, or your finances are stretched beyond your means? Frustrated because your income was cut, yet your workload was increased?

What have you been doing all this time? Have you continued to lament your fate? When will life return to the way it used to be?

For those of you who have lost someone you love, how much longer will you keep mourning that loss? How much longer will you blame God for taking them from your life? Or keep regretting it, blaming yourself or others? “If only back then… If only I had…”

Indeed, losing someone we love is not easy. Saying it is not as easy as doing it. But, brothers and sisters, life must go on. Life must go on!

Today, too, Jesus asks you, “Do you want to be healed?” And Jesus will also say the same thing to you, “Get up, pick up your mat and walk.”

Rise up!

2. Remember: There Is Still Hope, the Future Awaits

For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off. – Proverbs 23:18

I remember, there was a time when I wondered before God, would life return to normal as before? Could the economy recover after sinking so deeply? Even after millions of people around the world lost their jobs and became unemployed, and major companies collapsed?

I also wondered, what will happen in the future? What about our children who are completing their education? Will they get decent jobs? Or will they instead add to the number of unemployed people?

An uncertain future made me doubtful, worried, and afraid. Without realizing it, I was actually standing still!

The vaccination program that the government is vigorously promoting will surely make many people’s immunity stronger. Fewer people will be infected with covid-19. Is that not good news?

Then why are we still stuck at the point of a pandemic that has taken away all our dreams, hopes, and aspirations for the future?

Brothers and sisters, in the Lord, remember that our future truly exists. Our hope will not disappear. A sharing from a pastor that went like this encouraged me, “If God is the author of this life, why should I be afraid?”

Now is the time for you to welcome a new day, a brighter future.

3. Strengthen Your Heart

But now take courage, Zerubbabel, declares the LORD; take courage, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, declares the LORD; work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts – Haggai 2:4

Now is the time for you to strengthen your heart. Forget the past. Forget the failures that have happened. Do not lose heart, let alone give up. Be encouraged, even if you may have to start again from zero.
If you lost your job, strengthen your heart to look for a new job again. Send out as many applications as possible.
If your business failed, do not give up. You are not the only one affected by the pandemic; quite a few giant companies have also fallen. So, if your business was ruined, strengthen your heart and start again even if you have to crawl up from the bottom
If you lost your parents, siblings, spouse, or the person you hoped to marry, do not keep mourning. Now is the time for you to take off your sackcloth and strengthen your heart to start moving forward even without them.

Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid and do not tremble before them, for the LORD your God is the One who goes with you; He will not leave you nor forsake you. – Deuteronomy 31:6

4. Work Again

The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. – 2 Timothy 2:6

Paul was advising his spiritual son, Timothy, to live like a soldier, an athlete, and finally like a hardworking farmer.

A farmer is pictured as a hardworking figure. How could he not be? Before the sun rises, he has already left for his fields and rice paddies. Then he returns home after the sun has set.

A farmer cannot remain idle, relax, be lazy, and then harvest the produce of his fields and rice paddies. He must work hard. He tills the soil, sows the seed, fertilizes, irrigates, guards it from pest attacks, and patiently waits until harvest season comes.

The same is true for you today. You, too, must go back to work. Roll up your sleeves. Look for work that you enjoy or that matches your talents. But if the door to your dream job has not yet opened, take whatever opportunity is available. Do not be picky. Do whatever work you can, as long as it is honest.

If you stay still, you will reap nothing. Things will not get better; they will get worse. Step out of your comfort zone. Work again. Do your best so that in the end you will reap the best results.

Whatever you do, do it with all your heart, as for the Lord and not for men. – Colossians 3:23

Finally, remember this: if you strive, God does not remain silent. He will be with you. It is not impossible that your rising after the pandemic will produce better results than before the pandemic. Even though the economy in general is sluggish, quite a few people have also become more successful during this pandemic.

Awake, awake! Put on your strength as a garment, O Zion! Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! – Isaiah 52:1a

So, stay awake. Use your strength to rise up! Good Luck! Keep pressing on!

Source: www.who.int/news/item/13-10-2020-impact-of-covid-19-on-people's-livelihoods-their-health-and-our-food-systems