COVID-19 Novel Encouragement Sample

God is… Infinite

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.” Isaiah 40:28

“To infinity and beyond!” This quote from Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story was the shout and cry of my childhood. It meant that anything was possible and that nothing, even the stars, was out of reach. This may seem like a childish approach, just a trivial exclamation from the mouth of a cartoon character, but in a time when everything seems indefinite, my mind turns to the questions: “Who is infinite?” and “What is beyond?”

“For to understand infinity is to comprehend the incomprehensible.” Nicholas of Cusa

When we think of the infinite, we must compare it to the finite. We must compare what is lasting and eternal, beyond space and time, to what is constrained by this world’s time and physical matter.

Praise the Lord, this virus is NOT infinite!

Still, I feel like this situation has gone on forever. I feel the constraints of this world amid this chaos. My feelings of stress and anxiety seem like they will infinitely take a toll on my mind. When I can only see the here and now, and cannot see past where my physical plans take me, I feel small and insignificant. Being finite leaves me feeling helpless. It’s all very Ecclesiastical!

Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless. Ecclesiastes 1:2 NIV

There is so much of our fallen world that is senseless, selfish, and ungodly: terrorism, rape, murder, greed, corruption. But even though such things are senseless, we comprehend them because we understand that our world is fallen. Humans are sinful, therefore we sin and rain destruction on the world around us. But what about destruction which is not made by human hands? What about natural disasters, famine, or disease? Are these tragedies also in the realm of the Fall? To me, they seem like creation’s own outcry over the world’s separation from God.

This virus seems meaningless. What meaning or goodness comes from the violent illness of hundreds of thousands of innocent people? My finite brain does not comprehend this!

I am not trying to get you to a place of total distress and panic (though you can go and read Ecclesiastes if you desire a more existential contemplation on the meaning of life!), but I am trying to state to you the gravity and the urgency of the Gospel at this time.

As the Church, we need to focus on being Kingdom-minded and showing the love and grace of an Infinite Father to a frightened and finite world. The only hope in our fallen state of finality is the hope that comes from Jesus. The infinite, all-knowing, all-loving God of the universe wants you to see beyond the finite, see beyond the terrible situation in front of you, and see Him. His infinity is beyond your very real isolation; His infinity is beyond your financial crisis; His infinity is beyond your fear, and it is definitely beyond this sickness. The Infinite One is the only one who can bring healing and wholeness to our dying world, both physically and spiritually.

I cannot even imagine not knowing the Lord during this time. Not having the hope that comes from salvation or experiencing the peace that God has placed on my heart, this situation is terrifying. There are days when I want to panic because I’m scared for my mom, a cancer survivor with no immune system, or my pregnant friend, who has not left her house in two months, or my friends who are nurses working in the Covid-19 units and are exposed to this virus daily. However, the peace of God, which has surpassed all of my understanding, has kept me calm!

Infinite God, let us see the beyond.

PRAYER

“Dear Almighty and Infinite Father, help us today! Grant us the peace that comes from your Spirit. Help us rest in your infinite goodness, sovereignty, and love. Amen!”

Kaliyah J Wood, BICF City Church, Beijing