“How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave.” If we read the first sentence out of context, we might be persuaded to think that it is describing most cities in lockdown nowadays, due to COVID-19. But what it describes is much more tragic. This is the first verse in the book of Lamentations; a book that I’m sure a lot of you almost never reads or perhaps skims through very quickly. It […]
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A Call to Endure in Times of Anxiety – Psalm 23
From the 5th March, when the first suspected case of COVID-19 was reported until now, there are 3,953 total confirmed cases in South Africa with 75 deaths. Around the world, there are currently 2 649 680 cases with 184 643 deaths. The world has never been the same, since the virus was reported in Wuhan, China in December 2019, and is certainly going to take a long time to recover. The point is we are living in very anxious times and the question facing all of us is how do we keep trusting God and enduring in these very difficult and challenging times? […]
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Wise People Often Say, “I Don’t Know”
Reflection James 4:15 When well-meaning friends have recently asked us the friendly question, “Where will you be in the next several months?” my response has been, “I don’t know.” One spiritual-sounding American put the question like this — “What’s your sense from the Lord?” I smilingly responded over the phone, “James 4.” I then mentioned several factors involved in making decisions (when will airports reopen? How far into Amy’s pregnancy will we be when things re-open?, etc.). These factors are outside my control. The Coronavirus crisis is forcing me to say, “I don’t know.” That’s a good thing. It’s actually […]
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What Does the Bible Say About Disease? Part 4: Contemplating in Crises
The other day I read an article on CBC stating that “Mental illness will be (the) ‘next wave’ of (the) COVID-19 pandemic, according to epidemiologists, because of people being in prolonged isolation. Consequently, I am staying on the topic of mental illness. It can be such a taboo topic to many, even Christians, but it is nevertheless important that we speak and be open about it. “We very speedily care for bodily diseases; they are too painful to let us slumber in silence; and they soon urge us to seek a physician or a surgeon for our healing. Oh, if […]
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A Call to Endure (Part 1)
Romans 5:1-5 Like me and I am sure you will agree, it has been an extremely challenging & difficult time, since our State President, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, announced the nationwide lock-down three weeks ago. Today would have marked the end of the lock-down & have no doubt, many of us were looking forward in eager anticipation to this day, when our lives would have returned to some sort of normality. However, that was not meant to be until last Thursday when our State President addressed the nation by giving an update on the coronavirus and announced a further two week […]
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