HOW C.S. LEWIS’ WORD FROM 72 YEARS AGO IS VALID TODAY
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HOW C.S. LEWIS’ WORD FROM 72 YEARS AGO IS VALID TODAY
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It’s now clear that COVID-19 is a deadly serious global pandemic, and all necessary precautions should be taken. Still, C. S. Lewis’s words—written 72 years ago—ring with some relevance for us. Just replace “atomic bomb” with “coronavirus.”
In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic age?” I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.”
In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. . . It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.
This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, . . . —not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.
(Excerpt from TGC. Article by Matt Smethurst.)
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Father, please help me as an individual be found doing something that would be pleasing to you-then in a corporate fashion with my precious brothers and sisters doing and saying things pleasing in your sight. Help us always and never let us forget you are always with us sustaining and guiding us, in Jesus name amen.
C. S. Lewis was so wise and practical. Thank God for creating and equipping him to write wonderful stories and essays. His talks on the BBC radio during WWII were a blessing.
This article link about Rees Howell (intercessor in Wales during World War II) is inspiring about building our faith and how our prayers can make a powerful difference during a global crisis.
https://www.jhopdc.com/rees-howells-part-1
Read the Psalms daily. Listen to God speak love, power and a sound mind into our lives. Psalm 37 directs us to not just huddle in fear but to:
Delight yourself in the Lord
Fret not against evil doers
Rest in Him
Trust in Him
Wait on Him
Praise Him
We are at war and the Biblical tactic of sending out Praise and Worshipers at the front of the line won the war. God Bless America!
Amen, so true. We, the body of Christ, are to be doing as Christ did; busy about our Father’s business.
This morning, Sunday morning, just like many of you, I’m usually busy getting prepared for church.
But today’s different. Haven’t turned on the lights, queued the mic, set out the signs or prepared a message…haven’t even gotten dressed.
They said, church was canceled due to corona.
I’d probably be sad. I could easily be discouraged.
But last night, my daughter called.
We talked. We prayed. We shared scared…an hour and twenty-one minutes later, we hung up.
I stared at the phone and smiled with watery eyes as it occurred to me…we had church.
In all my life, in all my years, thousands of services, this was one of the best church services I ever had.
Church isn’t canceled. No. It’s not dead.
She’s stumbled in the past
Most recently, in America, she’s slumbered.
But, she’s not dead.
No not by a long shot.
These times. These trials. These stirrings. This fear, has only shaken to awaken the most powerful family on the planet, the Church.
The Church isn’t dead, nor ever will she be.
Because God’s not dead and through His church He lives and moves and breathes.
The Church is alive and well and all of a sudden, she’s multiplied her ministers. They’re not just standing behind pulpits, but smiling across checkout counters and over steering wheel of truck and trailer. They’re reaching for trembling hands in nursing homes and health care centers. They’re tossing a roll of toilet paper across the fence to a neighbor. Their words are echoing through open air from the beds of pickup trucks and flatbed trailers. Their smiling faces are beaming through facetime and snapchat and closing the gap of social distancing by every form of social media…and personally, right now, my most favorite thing, they’re picking up the phone and calling dad.
Dear world, let’s have church.
Father,
Our times are in your hands. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Psalm 91:2
“The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.” Psalm 18:2
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1
Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?…“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”
Father- No matter the challenge or time in history we are blessed to have a heavenly Father who is aware of our needs and who loves us through every possible circumstance. All praise to you that these times do not take you by surprise and you are well able to speak your truth into every moment and every situation. We look to you to be our defense and our shield. Our hope is in you alone. All glory to your name!!
I very much appreciate this article. It puts the Coronavirus crisis in perspective. We can walk through this with God, asking His Spirit to guide us and then obey-one day at a time. We need to keep our focus on Him and on pleasing Him every day of our lives-regardless of the circumstances and the time/epoch we live in. We also need to ask God what He is doing, right now, in our lives and in the lives of others- remembering that His thoughts and ways are not ours. He is in total control. This did not catch him by surprise and He is not wringing His hands over all of this. His word for us is to be anxious for nothing but instead to pray to Him and He promises to give us His supernatural peace that passes out understanding!