Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Protector (12/05/24)
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TITLE: Misplaced Trust | Previous Challenge Entry
By Ellen Janson
12/12/24 -
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We just don’t know enough about this once-in-a-hundred-year virus…this will slow the spread,” they had told her.
They were just being extra careful.
”It’s only for two weeks,” she told Charlie. “No need to worry. Your school is just trying to protect their students.”
Two weeks later when the school, as well as most businesses, was still closed, she assured Charlie the government was just trying to protect its citizens.
“We really should just stay home, but if we absolutely need to go out, we must wear a mask so we don’t get the virus. And we need to stand six feet away from people - they say that’s how far it can travel. The scientists are working as fast as they can on a vaccine. As soon as they make it, we will all be safe.”
Lisa put off going to the grocery store for as long as possible; they were now almost out of even peanut butter and canned soup. She set her alarm for 5am, and left the house for the first time in two weeks. With a mask over a mask, ski gloves, and goggles over her glasses (who knew how this virus could spread?!) she nervously entered the store. Lisa was careful to only touch items that were going directly into her sanitized cart. She tried to hold her breath for one hour as she raced through the aisles. When she got home, as suggested, she wiped down every canned good and cereal box with bleach before putting them into her pantry, and then stripped off her clothes for an extra thorough shower.
In the shower, she panicked. Surely she had gotten every corner of every box with those Clorox wipes, right? Oh! She forgot to wipe down her steering wheel! She should probably wipe down the entire inside of her car as well! It took almost a whole day to get groceries into the house, and her hands were beginning to bleed from all the bleach and hand sanitizer. But this would protect her from the germs.
Lisa rarely left her house over the next several months. Charlie was on a screen most of the day, and hadn’t been to a friend’s house since last Fall, but, she told him,
”Nothing is more important than our safety. This virus could make us very sick or even worse. We simply can not take the risk of being with other people, especially people who aren’t taking this seriously enough.”
Like my parents, Lisa thought. They were back in their church the minute the doors opened, and already back to their volunteer work at the farm. Sure, they wore a mask (although not the correct ones, and not nearly tight enough over their nose), and planned to get the vaccine when it was available, but they were definitely being careless! She wouldn’t dare let Charlie near them, she told her mother a few months ago.
When the vaccine finally became available to the general public, Lisa stayed up all night to secure her spot on the government website. She got her shot the following week.
Now she was safe.
But then something happened. Lisa got COVID!
How could this have happened?!
Lisa’s mother dropped some homemade soup on her porch. When Lisa called to thank her, she broke down in tears.
“I thought the vaccine would protect me…and I haven’t left the house without a mask for over a year!”
”But how do you feel?” her mother asked.
”OK…” Lisa said, realizing she hadn’t even really thought about this.
“So you’re not so upset because you feel terrible? Or because you’re afraid you’re going to die?”
“Well…no…I guess I just thought the doctors, or the FDA or the government would protect me.”
”Oh, honey, you’ve been putting your faith into the wrong things. Only the Lord can protect you. Medicine is all well and good, but your Father in heaven has counted every hair on your head and holds your life in the palm of His hand. He is your Divine Protector.”
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I just finished reading "Left Behind," so that stuff is fresh on my mind. Those vaccine promises are likened to the antichrist-wonderful thing that will save everybody. Even so .... We know what happens.
Only Jesus Christ can protect us from ourselves.