I continue to be inspired by the messages of Max Lucado as we continue to battle COVID.  The numbers of sick have become astronomical, and I have not been able to attend church.  Pastor Lucado’s thought-provoking, Bible-based, sermons have kept my faith strong and my soul thirsting for spiritual truths.  As a former “preacher’s kid,” I see a lot of my father’s ability to make the Bible come alive in Pastor Lucado’s preaching style.

This past Sunday, Max said that he believed all of us are suffering from PTSD because of COVID.  His imaginary reference to being a newly-released prisoner from prison illustrated how we have been so confined to our homes that in an effort to be free, many of us are not searching for new, positive lives and have become content to stay confined in our homes.  There is no necessity for this.  Our sins are keeping us in a symbolic prison, even though Jesus Christ has freed us from those sins with His death on the cross.  Those who are refusing to get vaccinated and the abundance of misinformation are as much responsible for us staying in our homes as the disease itself.  You can’t say you care about others and not be willing to get shots that can save your life and the lives of others.  In not returning to a new life, we are suffering from a “civil war of our souls.”  Rather than letting our faith be the power behind all our efforts to stop COVID, we are taking short-cuts or easy fixes to eliminate the most terrifying pandemic in history.  Rather than letting God move our world to the other side of this disease, we think we can do everything ourselves, and we are not loving one another like Jesus Christ has asked us to do.

Paul said in Romans 8: 1-2 (KJV), “There is therefore no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”  When we doubt that God has us in the palms of His hands, the Evil one is saying, “I told you so.  God won’t help you.”  We must remember our positions in God; we are His children, who sometimes stay conformed to sin rather than face the truth of His love and grace.  We must remember that we are being made holy by every situation and trouble in our lives.  Today’s struggles and temptations will not last forever, but His grace is sufficient to off-set any pain we have with COVID.  Through the love of Jesus Christ and the grace of God, we are empowered to move forward to a more positive future.  This grace encircles us, protects us, and encourages us to push through this destructive disease to loving one another more strongly and with more caring than any of us have ever known.  We will not be defeated because of the grace of God and the love His only Son, Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:37-39 (KJV) states, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creatures shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  I agree with Max Lucado that we are all suffering from PTSD, and many of us have tried to handle COVID without letting God do His will in our world.  I have had my own times of doubt and fear, but I keep walking out of my home, knowing that Jesus Christ walks beside me, in Him do I place my trust.  I look to a more positive future with the love of God centered in my soul and Jesus Christ’s light shining in my heart and throughout the world.

Anna Hartt