By CHRIS FIELDS
Why do we ignore warnings from healthcare leaders?
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — His eternal power and divine nature — have clearly been seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” – Romans 1:18–20
2020 was tumultuous to say the least. It was like we had all types of biblical tribulations wrapped up in one year. Race against race, nation against nation, divided families, divided nations, divided thoughts — all types of calamities, with COVID-19 as the overseer.
No type of divisiveness is of God. A kingdom divided against itself will fall, He says, and this is the recourse of us being divided from Him — wrath. For every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction, and that’s not just the law of motion. I know a lot of us like to think of Jesus as some big puffed-up ball of cotton in the sky and incapable of correcting His children, but those who think that are wrong.
The Bible is clear about sparing the rod and spoiling the child, and if you think that Jesus doesn’t follow His own Word, then you are mistaken. His love for us won’t allow Him to not correct us, especially since He knows best. He knows the beginning from the end, and He knows the ultimate recourse for disobedience.
2020 introduced us to COVID-19, a disease that favors those who don’t properly care for their bodies, and is caught from those who don’t care enough to love their neighbor as Jesus commands. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we were warned and advised to wear masks and to be socially distant, not just for our own sakes, but mainly for the benefit of those around us — for those whose health was failing due to aging and other reasons.
In our disobedience, we have had more deaths this past year than any year the United States has ever seen (Google it). Because of our disobedience, hospitals are being overrun, not having the accommodations for those needing critical care for anything other than COVID-19. Businesses are failing, jobs are being lost, debt is climbing, families are being torn apart.
Is it that we look at mandates from the healthcare world as ungodly? How? Would it have been better coming out of the mouths of preachers? Would it have been godlier coming from respected men of God, or those we believe “hear from God”? As Christians, we seem to have an issue with truth based on the source of information. We have a hard time measuring information with the Word of God (truth).
At the beginning of the pandemic, I had to listen as Christians claimed God’s favor over COVID-19 for themselves while the rest of the world was dying. Last I checked, Jesus came to save the world, and as His agents, that’s our mandate too, right? So why is it that we have been clamoring for normalcy instead of following simple instructions as if they weren’t from Christ, especially since He knows best? The instructions He gives will always cause us to align with His Word and will never contradict it, regardless of who voices those instructions.
Healthcare professionals have been handing out God’s truth for years, but because it comes in the name of science, we Christians neglect it. We skip the natural for the supernatural, when the natural is supernatural. God is the creator of all, so everything is sourced and resourced from Him. If we want to see a better 2021, we must get a better understanding of Him. This year let’s all take time to get to know Him better so He can enlighten our understanding.
So for 2021, here are two tips to help you do that: Exercise and eat better. I know you thought I was going to be more profound, but those are the only tips I have. Personally, I’ve listened all my life as preachers told me to pray and read the Word, but it wasn’t until I developed discipline over my physical body that I began to develop discipline in my spiritual walk. The two are intertwined. You can’t be as spiritually healthy as you should be, if you knowingly defy God’s instructions for your physical health.
Chris Fields is the founder and executive director of H.E.A.L. Mississippi and a graduate in kinesiology with advanced studies in nutrition. He serves as a clinical exercise physiologist/CPT and is credentialed in Exercise Is Medicine through the American College of Sports Medicine.