Trust Issues in a Chaotic Pandemic-Plagued World

Trust Issues in a Chaotic Pandemic-Plagued World

News Reports: Wear a Mask! Masks do no good! Open the schools and the kids will be fine! Don’t dare open the schools because this will be devastating to our children and our families! Trump will turn this country around! Biden will fix the mess Trump has made! This virus is no worse than the flu! This virus is ten times worse than the flu! Everybody needs to get back to word or the economy will tank! Everybody back to work now is too soon and the contagion will spread like wild fire!

Friends and family: Do what the CDC and the government says: wear the mask for protection of self AND others. Don’t listen to CDC because some experts have said that masks don’t help but harm. What news network are you listening to? Where did you read that?

Church and Gatherings: Social distancing and masks are not necessary! Social distancing and protection are foremost in all gatherings! The indoor group guidelines don’t apply at church! Church sanctuaries are a petri dish for spreading the disease without strong precautions. Weddings and funerals are necessary and we will have these! Weddings and funerals should follow the protective measures that the CDC advises or they will be super spreaders. Media is just spreading fear all around and this is just political posturing! Media is showing us that there are very serious outbreaks everywhere and we better take heed or we will be in trouble!

Name calling: Stupid! Ignorant! Stubborn! Paranoid! Misinformed! Dumb! Inconsiderate! Cares only for self—selfish! Privileged!

After months of all chaos and massive changes in our lives, the common mantra is being sung in many hearts who are just turning off the news and watching a movie because no one knows who can be trusted. This is a worldwide tornadic whirlwind that had threatened so much of what is familiar. Some days, we just can’t take it in anymore!

A new day dawns and we begin again. The chaos is still here! The GREAT DIVIDE is threatening to split families, communities, churches and our government. Fear is the sister of chaos. We fear that we won’t be able to feed our families, have a place to live, keep a job, or survive the Covid 19 pandemic. We fear our country could fail and that we will soon be living in a country we don’t recognize. We are sick of those who are paranoid and hassling the rest of us with those views.

What now? Caution is not fear. Caution is the way of wisdom.

We don’t know which human we can believe in all these contradictory. We are frustrated with what appears to be conflicting information and certainly differing opinions. In the same way that most of us can use a computer, the truth is that only a few truly understand the science behind the new daily updates and new information on the science. Tidbits about the virus come from one source and seem to suggest one thing and a report from another source seems to suggest the opposite. Very few can understand the breadth and depth of the knowledge we are getting in tiny bites.

The very first thing we can do is understand that we may not understand the big picture. We can understand the one report is dealing only with one aspect of the big picture, kind of like apply the pressing on a key to make a letter on the screen is true but doesn’t explain the workings of the computer. Scientists are gathering new information; virologists are studying trends and symptoms; data systems are reporting daily statistics but doesn’t actually forecast future probabilities (recoveries or deaths). We have many pieces of a very large jigsaw puzzle but, until all the pieces are examined and assembled, there is currently no accurate answer and no clear direction we should take.

Good judgement that is peppered with caution and seasoned with love for others is the course that seems the most appropriate way of living during this chaotic time. Removing our personal vision for what we want the truth to be when all the puzzle pieces fall into place, examining each piece without prejudice or preference, we can remain good citizens, obedient children of God, more mature in our judgements of the veracity of what others are calling truth.

More than a what (is the truth), this is about where (is the truth). Asking God to guide us is the greatest part of learning to recognize truth, the bigger picture, and finally develop good discernment of what actions we should take in our daily lives. Knowing how to live in this chaos may take different avenues for those in different circumstances.

Proverbs 4:5-7 Get wisdom; develop good judgment. Don’t forget my words or turn away from them. 6 Don’t turn your back on wisdom, for she will protect you. Love her, and she will guard you. 7 Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do! And whatever else you do, develop good judgment.

Romans 13:1-3 Be a good citizen. All governments are under God. Insofar as there is peace and order, it’s God’s order. So live responsibly as a citizen. If you’re irresponsible to the state, then you’re irresponsible with God, and God will hold you responsible. Duly constituted authorities are only a threat if you’re trying to get by with something. Decent citizens should have nothing to fear.

James 3:13-16

Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats.

James 1:5-8 If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.

Proverbs 3:5+ Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.

Jeremiah 17:5-6 5-6 God’s Message:

“Cursed is the strong one who depends on mere humans, Who thinks he can make it on muscle alone and sets God aside as dead weight. He’s like a tumbleweed on the prairie, out of touch with the good earth. He lives rootless and aimless in a land where nothing grows.

Psalm 118:8 8 It is better to trust in the Lord than to trust in man.