What do we usually think of when we hear the word “outbreak?” Definitely nothing too good! We might think of an outbreak of Salmonella, or an outbreak of the Flu, or the chicken pox, or our minds might wonder back to the Black Plague. Today, though, an outbreak of Covid-19 would be at the top of every mind. As our minds settle on this word for the next few minutes, what exactly is it?
STAGES OF AN OUTBREAK
When it comes to an outbreak, epidemiologists give 3 stages, which are indicative to the geographical extent of an outbreak:
- ENDEMIC is local, defined as “peculiar to a district or particular locality, or class of persons.” An ENDEMIC is a communicable disease, like flu, measles, mumps, pneumonia, colds, small pox, which is characteristic of a particular locale, or among a particular group, or an area of interest or activity.
- EPIDEMIC is regional, defined as “a popular disease; a disease generally prevalent, but not dependent upon any local cause.” An EPIDEMIC is when an ENDEMIC infects a significantly larger number of people at the same time than is common at that time, and among that population, and may spread through one or several communities regionally.
- PANDEMIC is worldwide, defined as “affecting a whole people or a number of countries.” A PANDEMIC is when a true EPIDEMIC spreads worldwide.
- PANIC is the result of any or all of the above.
OUTBREAK ⇒ ENDEMIC ⇒ EPIDEMIC ⇒ PANDEMIC ⇒ PANIC
Regardless of the outbreak, or Covid-19 of today, God has always been concerned about our spiritual, physical and emotional well being. God gave us many “exceeding great and precious promises” in His Word (II Peter 1:4) to encourage us concerning His protection during anything and everything including an outbreak. Here is one promise of protection that is very indicative of Covid-19:
“Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.”
(Psalm 91:5-7)
THE SOURCE OF PANIC
Understanding the definition of each stage in an outbreak, why would the majority in the United States be panicking, except for intentionally being put into a position of panic? The position of the born again believer has been in Christ since their personal salvation, positioned in the One who controls all of His creation (Mark 4:39). Take Covid-19 for example, the numbers speak for themselves. It is hardly spreading like an ENDEMIC much less an EPIDEMIC or a PANDEMIC? When 1% of a population has Covid-19, which is the fact in America, the word PANDEMIC certainly can not be used as a proper nationwide assessment. I would venture to say that the United States as a whole is barely out of the ENDEMIC stage, if at all. This I say understanding the definition of each stage of an outbreak, aligned with the extremely low percentage of our population who have contracted Covid-19.
For panic to strike our entire nation as it has, the numbers say that the only way this is possible cannot be by the stages of the outbreak, but by some external source. Why? Because the nation as a whole has not seen each stage of the outbreak, and along with this, the recovery rate is 97(±)%. The external source of PANIC is the news media, which has done a tremendous job convincing our nation that we are far beyond a PANDEMIC we were never in. For example, CNN put out an article titled “1 in 3 young adults vulnerable to severe Covid-19…” However, only about 1% of Americans have Covid-19, while article titles like this portray 33% of the population. Who wouldn’t be close to PANIC when news like this is in our face 24/7. This is intentionally inciting PANIC, called fearmongering, defined as “Someone who spreads fear, or needlessly raises the alarm.”
None of this is to say that Covid-19 is not deadly. I share these simple facts to show the source of PANIC and minimize the virus. The source of PANIC is not from any PANDEMIC or EPIDEMIC or ENDEMIC, but from the media and elected officials exploiting this deadly virus to put our nation into PANIC for their political gain.
IS GOD IN CONTROL OF COVID-19?
The answer is unequivocally, “YES!” Covid-19 is real, it is deadly and people are dying as they do from many different incidents each and every day of the year throughout our entire lives. Yet, Covid-19 deaths is less than the total number of accidental deaths in the USA each year. We do not PANIC as a nation over these accidental deaths, though these are just as serious in nature as Covid-19 (Poisoning, Motor vehicle, Fall, Suffocation, Fire, Weather, Struck, Machinery).
God’s instructions to us amidst this incited Covid-19 PANIC is given in Psalm 91:7. As born again believers, we simply have to trust in Him because “it shall not come nigh thee” unless God allows it. Whether we understand why or not, He is the One who has allowed 0.04% of our population to die (this is being proven an overinflated number due to falsified data that is currently surfacing). Therefore, we have absolutely no reason to PANIC as a nation over Covid-19. GOD IS IN CONTROL OF COVID-19, TRUST HIM!
For the born again believer, regardless of the cause of death, a major reason we need not PANIC is because our last breathe on this earth leads us immediately to our first breathe in Heaven “with the Lord.”
“We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”
(II Corinthians 5:8)
Those who are not born again do not have this glorious promise. Jesus said to you, in John 3:3, “Ye must be born again.” Understand, God does not want your soul to be punished eternally, that is why Jesus came to Earth, to take your sin’s punishment to the Cross where He was crucified. John 3:16, one of the most famous verses in the Bible, gives you the answer:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
(John 3:16)
HOW TO BE BORN AGAIN
REALIZE that you must be prepared to meet God, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
(John 3:3)
ADMIT though you are a good person, you are also a sinner. One sin in your lifetime makes you guilty of being a sinner before God. “Whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
(James 2:10)
UNDERSTAND that you have earned the wages of death for your sin no matter how good of a person that you are. “For the wages of sin is death.”
(Romans 6:23)
SEE that Jesus paid your sin debt, your wage of death. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
(Romans 5:8)
REPENT by turning to God, submitting to God and admitting to God your sinful condition. “Repentance toward God, and Faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”
(Acts 20:21)
BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ and what He did for you on the cross “and thou shalt be saved.” “For by grace are ye saved through faith.”
(John 5:24; Ephesians 2:8-9)
ASK Jesus to save you. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
(Romans 10:13; 6:23)
REJECT God’s Word today, then you will be judged by God’s Word in the last day and eternally punished in “the lake of fire.” “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” You must make a decision before it is eternally too late, “behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
(Revelation 20:14-15; John 12:48; II Corinthians 6:2)
WILL YOU RECEIVE THIS FREE GIFT OF SALVATION TODAY?
