[Music starts]
Brother Felmar Serreno: Is there any reason to be positive when the current pandemic has caused a myriad of adversities and misfortune in peoples’ lives?
Welcome to the podcast version of God’s Message Magazine, where today’s topic is: To Be Cheerful In The Face Of Difficulties.
The COVID-19 pandemic has produced a lot of negative emotions in people. For others, the sheer idea of contracting such a terminal disease and the thought of suffering and dying alone, since they would have to be isolated from their loved ones, can be so scary that it causes them to have paranoid delusions—mistreating and being rude to the people around them, even those who have contracted the disease and our “frontliners.” While some feel so hopeless and depressed about the current situation that they think of taking their own lives.
With the pandemic causing many complex problems to peoples’ lives, should we dwell on negative emotions? Is there no sense cheering up?
On being cheerful
Brother Felmar Serreno: Being deeply worried and depressed in times of crisis is not good for one’s health. The Bible teaches:
“A cheerful heart makes you healthy. But a broken spirit dries you up.”
[Proverbs 17:22 New International Reader’s Version]
Brother Felmar Serreno: Indeed, taking a cheerful stance even in the most depressing times has great benefits to a person’s well-being. Research attests that being cheerful improves heart health, allows one to combat stress effectively, boosts the immune system, promotes an overall healthier lifestyle, reduces pain, and increases life longevity. We can find that on
positivepsychology.com.
On the other hand, having a “broken spirit” or wallowing in misery dries up a person or shortens his life (Matthew 6:27). So let us heed the Lord’s timeless advice, “do not worry” (Matthew 6:31)
And although it is natural to feel down at times, we should not let sorrow prevail. To be cheerful in the face of difficulties is to remain friendly, approachable, and be a pleasant companion, for “a merry heart makes a cheerful countenance” (Proverbs 15:13 New King James Version).
In taking care of oneself
Brother Felmar Serreno: Out of too much worrying due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there are people who, as reported on the news, treat with discrimination and disgust those who have recovered from the disease and our frontliners.
That is wrong. While taking precautions is essential, especially now that there is a pandemic, we must also keep in mind the Bible’s teaching:
“Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”
[Ephesians 4:31-32 New King James Version]
Brother Felmar Serreno: Even when taking care of themselves, those whom God forgave through Christ—the members of the Church Of Christ—are taught to be kind and tenderhearted to others. They should be “hospitable to one another” (I Peter 4:9). And if others need their help, they must “do good” (Proverbs 3:27 Good News Bible) or help them. In doing so, they will not only be able to ease others’ troubles, they will also be able to fulfill God’s will.
To be truly safe
Brother Felmar Serreno: Human beings have limitations. Aside from taking all safety precautions,
