Courage Through Covid

You-Jung Oh, Australia

“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” – John 15:4-5

devotional

We need to lean on so many things to live in this society, but the Bible teaches us how to live in this world well. We made our decision to follow the Bible but there are times we are not able to follow it all because we are very weak.

For example, since the start of the COVID outbreak, there has been a lot of fear and worry, and we are not seeing each other as freely and regularly as we used to. Because of this, the depth of some of our relationships have decreased a lot, and some are afraid to even meet up with each other. Hebrews 10:25 says “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

I have also had a hard time because of COVID. Although I didn’t get COVID, because of other disciples’ becoming positive, many people were afraid of me and avoided me and they would treat me like someone with a serious illness. Because of this I am more afraid of people than COVID. I was thinking to myself, if I really got COVID, how would people treat me? I would avoid meeting with people and thought of excuses to not attend gatherings. As these times continued, my mind slowed down, and I often chose to stay home rather than try to put my effort into meeting with other disciples. One day we were going evangelising but I wanted to avoid going out, using any excuse, and I saw more of my own unbelief. James 2:26 says that “faith without deeds is dead”, but my faith was on its way to death. The day of evangelising came, my heart was still very heavy but I made my decision and went out to evangelise. I had a lot of thoughts on the way. However, when I arrived, I was grateful to share God’s words, and I also received a lot of encouragement and joy from my brothers and sisters.

I realised again that I couldn’t live my life alone, because seeing other disciples gave me encouragement and more strength. I would like to invite more people and try to know them more and find lost sheep through this time.

reflection questions

• What situations or thoughts can make you think that you are not attached to the vine?

• What is the next step for you to stick firmly to the vine?