As I write this, it is difficult to accurately read the psychological state of Americans right now. We have had weeks of forced isolation throughout much of the nation and the nearly universal practice of social distancing. All of this goes against our human nature: God made us for community and COVID-19 is challenging this fundamental axiom of the human condition. Consequently, for nearly all of us, we are experiencing a profound loss of freedom accompanied by a genuine fear and sense of danger posed by the virus. The result is often a measure of emotional stress, confusion and fear. Let’s think biblically about all this.

In the face of Absalom’s rebellion, King David finds his confidence in God, who will fight for him, deliver him and restore him.

Human depravity distorts and twists everything, creating chaos and disorder in the culture and its institutions. The first and most important institution God created was marriage and the family (see Genesis 2). What is it current condition? In our democratic-republic, education is intended to be a cooperative and dynamic enterprise involving the public school and parents. What is the condition of the public school movement? The state, an institution created by God to promote justice and thwart evil (see Romans 12:1-10), has taken on the role of a “savior,” ostensibly taking the risk out of living. The family, education, the state—each has been impacted by the depths of human depravity.

The human rebellion against God is met by God’s anointed Son, who will crush the rebellion and claim His inheritance–to rule over this planet.

The radical ideology of gender and sexual fluidity and of transgenderism in the 21st century has reached an absurd level. Consider a recent ACLU objection to a sales tax on tampons and similar products: “How can we recognize that barriers to menstrual access are a form of sex discrimination without erasing the lived experiences of trans men and non-binary people who menstruate, as well as women who don’t?”

Matthew Lee Anderson writes: “We can name the moment the COVID-19 pandemic reached the center of the American consciousness: around 8:30 p.m., Central Standard Time, on Wednesday, March 11. In the span of a single hour, the president addressed the nation, the National Basketball Association suspended all its games, and Tom Hanks announced he had tested positive for the illness. Within 24 hours, every major sports league had followed suit, and the prospect of winning $72 in the office March Madness pool was officially stripped from workers across the country.” The COVID-19 pandemic has struck at the heart of our illusory security.

The coronavirus currently racing across the world and now America has fostered fear and, for some, panic. Fear of the unknown is riveting and saps us of our trust in almost everything, including God. The fear and panic in response to the coronavirus are exacerbated by the subsequent carnage in the equity and financial markets. You see it in people’s eyes as you talk with them and you hear it in their conversation. We are facing something we cannot control—and it causes panic.

The path of the ungodly results in separation from God.

One of the most significant and contentious issues under discussion during the Catholic Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazonian Region, held in October 2019, was the question of whether to allow married men in that region to become priests. The reason for this consideration is the significant shortage of priests among indigenous people groups in the Amazon region. “Due to the shortage, many indigenous Catholics in that region are unable to regularly celebrate the Mass and receive other forms of pastoral care.”

God’s blessings flow to the one who rejects the counsel of the ungodly, the lifestyle of the sinner and identifying with those who mock God—but flow only to the one who finds delight in God’s word.