I finally got COVID-19 and lost four full workdays due to my severe symptoms. In fact, it was not just myself. Paul first got it somewhere, and my wife and I got it from him. I was mistaken because I simply assumed it to be like a cold or something like it. To some, yes, it’s like a light cold. But to me, it wasn’t. I was literally bedridden for the first three days because I couldn’t even sit for more than a minute. All my physical energy was drained due to a high fever, uncontrollably violent coughing, and the body aching in every muscle. I remember I went to sleep Sunday night with an ambitiously long to-do list in my mind for this week: my dissertation, MDC Press work, my GA work, my preaching responsibility for the coming Sunday, and some more. But a virus, which your eyes couldn’t even see, ruined everything. I only slowly began to return to work yesterday (Friday). Here are some of my thoughts:
- If God had permitted me to have COVID-19 in 2020 when the virus was unbelievably fatal, I may have lost my life.
- The human body, strong as it may be, is in fact so fragile; even a small invisible virus can quickly disarm it.
- All those usual moments of life are a gift from God.
- God makes it clear to us that he is with us even when we suffer in our sickness; we experience God’s shalom.
So, I am thankful that I am back in writing mode. I’ll close today’s post with a touching statement I found from this morning’s reading of The Wisdom of Solomon (14:3), an Old Testament apocryphal (or deuterocanonical) book:
ἡ δὲ σή, πάτερ, διακυβερνᾷ πρόνοια,
ὅτι ἔδωκας καὶ ἐν θαλάσσῃ ὁδὸν
καὶ ἐν κύμασι τρίβον ἀσφαλῆ
But, Father, your Providence governs
for you have given a path even in the sea
and a safe way through the waves
(Photo by Fernando @cferdophotography on Unsplash)
