Jessica Levy Books

I’ve been to the store three times since they announced the virus had spread to the United States. There has been no toilet paper, very little meat, no hand sanitizer. Hand sanitizer I understand (although, I am a little surprised we ran out of it before we ran out of soap). But meat and toilet paper? Like, what’s…happening?

What’s happening is the same thing that happens when we have a bad day and reach for some ice cream (or a drink), or when we experience rejection so we lash out in anger (or seek acceptance in unseemly ways), or when we lie to avoid confronting how we’ve hurt someone we love.

What’s happening is fear. Fear is a human response to perceived loss of control. When something goes down we don’t understand or cannot change, it is often our reaction to grasp at whatever smidgen of control we have, whether it makes the situation better or worse. In the case of ice cream, drink, anger, unseemly acceptance, lying, and toilet paper…well, usually the situation doesn’t improve, at least not long term. As Jesus said to his disciples in Luke 12, “who of you by worrying [read: fear] can add a single hour to your life?” (25).

Fear is the most contagious virus in the world. It is easily contracted, so it spreads quickly, and its symptoms are marvelously destructive. Think about it: you watch the news and immediately your heart leans toward fear, consideration of how quickly the illness is spreading, that it’s in your neighborhood, that the count is rising, that the healthcare system is overwhelmed. Questions of the future begin to pop up in your mind that you never considered before. Suddenly, you are infected with fear and reaching for an antidote. ‘I know!’ you think to yourself, ‘I’ll pick up some toilet paper!’

Moment of truth: stocking up on toilet paper is not actually the problem. It’s also not the solution. The problem we must investigate is within us. What is the state of your heart? If your action is a grasp at control, your heart may be in a state of fear. Trying to control the fear virus is like popping a decongestant – you may experience temporary relief, but the virus still runs rampant in your system. The solution to fear is not control, it is peace. Peace is attained by (ironically?) relinquishing control and trusting in the only one who has it.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

ROMANS 15:13

It is through recognizing who actually has control that we can release our need to grasp at it. There is then a peace that enters our hearts. True peace sees us standing firmly in the middle of a storm with the knowledge that God is greater than the storm. He knows the plans he has for you, which are to prosper you (Jer 29:11). So if you examine your heart and find you test positive for the fear virus, seek peace through trusting in the Lord. This, like most things with God, is a process.

The best thing about God’s good news is that it is also viral. Peace is just as contagious! One thing that has stricken me about this strain of the coronavirus is how quickly it spread over the world. Sometimes, it feels like a person on the other side of the earth is very far away, but the virus has proven that the people of earth are closer and more influential on one another than we realize.

What if we hijacked the path of contagion and spread peace? What if we sat next to someone on an airplane and just, like, sneezed peace all over them? What if we stopped putting on masks and gloves and shields between us and instead took a risk, spreading the peace that surpasses all understanding by showing love to our neighbor?

You think the world looks different now, just imagine what it could be.