The pandemic of the coronavirus has done a number on our worrying about our life. Tens of thousands of people throughout the world have died because of the virus. Hundreds of thousands have been hospitalized. The virus has crippled the economy of most of the nations in the world. Fear has crept into every aspect of our society. Millions of people are out of work. They have become fearful as to how they will pay the bills and feed their family. Debt keeps climbing for individuals, communities, counties, states, and the nation. Everywhere you look, devestation is occurring and each of us are being impacted by the corona virus.

It is very easy to slip into worry because of the present circumstances that we are living in. Jesus was concerned about this kind of worry and the impact it would have on our perspective of life when He wrote about the four soils (Mark 4). Jesus identified four different kind of environments in which His word could be planted. We are the soils, the seed is His word, and our choices will determine the kind of soil the seed is planted in. You can read the parable of the 4 soils, but I want to focus on the third soil in which He talks about worry and it’s effect on us as His followers. He says, “Others are like seed sown among thorns; these are the ones who hear the word, but the worries of this age, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” Mark‬ ‭4:18-19‬ ‭CSB‬‬

The pandemic has contributed to our focus being put on the worries of the world. When we focus on all the news that saturates our minds with what is going on, we have a choice. We can focus on all of the negative messages that the pandemic has created. It will heighten our worry and cause us to lose focus on things that are important in life. Or we can choose to dwell on the things that we are thankful for and for what God is doing in our lives and the lives of others. Producing qualities of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self control only happens in our lives when we don’t allow the worries of this world, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things to enter our thoughts and emotions as we go about our daily lives.

On this journey in our world, I’m not minimizing the impact that the pandemic has had in all phases of our culture. We have a choice on whether we focus on the circumstances of life, or focus on God who is bigger that all of it and is able to make sense of what we need to do on a daily basis. Choose wisely.