COVID-19: Any Silver Lining?

In December 2019, a novel coronavirus was discovered in a patient in Wuhan China and it has since spread like wild fire across the globe, causing fear and panic among people while taking a lot of lives with it. It's easy to worry and complain at a time like this, but is there a silver lining? Can anything good come out of this pandemic? How can this seemingly dreadful situation benefit us as individuals, as the church and the society?

INDIVIDUAL:
Most of the world is currently in a state of lockdown. Many aren't happy for various reasons, ranging from hunger to depressive moods as a result of no social contact. In what way can this "Stay At Home" season benefit us?
1. This can be a time for people to kick back, relax a little and reorganise their priorities. Life has given us a chance to de-stress. It's always hassle and bustle from day to day and year to year. Accumulated stress leads to mental and physical breakdown but this is a good opportunity to unwind and get your mind and body back in good shape.
2. This is also a great time for families to reconnect (for those who are privileged to be spending this time with family). No more rushing off to work or school and getting home exhausted at the end of the day. This could be a time for parents to pay closer attention to their children and know what's going on with them. A time for siblings to reconnect and build stronger bonds within themselves. A time for couples to get back to their spouses and rekindle the fire of their love once more. Families will be better off in the end if we take this time to right wrongs and reconnect.

CHURCH:
A time of distress is usually a time of awakening for the church. A time for us to go back to our first love- Jesus Christ. This is also a critical time in the life of unbelievers- with shattered hopes and lots of unanswered questions. If the church will humble herself to be used at this time to bring light and hope to people, it'll be a season when many who are being saved will be added to the body of Christ. The church can seize this opportunity to show the power and love of God in this wicked world through teachings, reaching out to the poor and needy and workings of miracles.

SOCIETY:
We all agree that when the family is better, the church is better and the society is better too. So basically, if we do the right things with this time as individuals, the society will benefit from it as well.
The height of disorientation that's in our society at this time calls for a restructuring. The pandemic will benefit our society if we can take an inventory of what is not working well in this time of crisis and use the data to restructure how we do things. To be a better people and to make better living conditions for the people. This mostly has to do with those in leadership. This is also a time for community building through collaborations between people of different clans and ethnicities.

This pandemic doesn't have to be all doom and gloom. We can make the most of it, God helping us.

-Dr Ozioma Ezeofor