Devotional: Preventable Plagues

The news of the Ebola virus brings me to Psalm 91. Tragedies of death. Always death, with its message of desolation and sorrow. Always the poor, the innocent, paying for “the dishes others broke.” No virus comes out of nowhere,

unless it is human beings who bring it about through their ignorance or disobedience. An Ebola virus that ensures the final death of human beings created in the image and likeness of God. Human poverty is almost always linked to the indifference a few show toward their neighbors. As I always make clear, my reflection is theology. Everything has to do with God; everything is about God, even Ebola. Any plague could be prevented; any pandemic could be contained. “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1).

There is no point in speculating about the origin of evil. We know it is the human heart, the transgressions of the flesh, worldly passions, the ambition for riches. Better to think about what God can do to relieve suffering; perhaps to think about the doctors who distribute medicine and the gospel at the same time. Even death can give us hope, because God glories in the weaknesses of the spiritual person and still has mercy for those who think themselves the heroes of the cures and forget to give Him the glory. He can turn evil into good.

We are surrounded by plagues that cause deaths every day. Daily deaths caused by an overdose of some lethal drug no longer even find a place in the headlines of the world press. Day after day, thousands of people with addictions die (more than from Ebola). Daily suicide figures have not fallen in the last 20 years because of despair and a lack of hope (more suicides each day than Ebola victims). Hunger kills more children each day than the deadly devastation Ebola causes today. These are the plagues that have become commonplace, and almost no one speaks of those who die from them. “I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust’” (Psalm 91:2).

Ebola does not come from Africa, but from destitution. Ebola is in the human heart. Ah! How different things would be if the world turned back to God. “For He will command His angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. They will carry you in their hands, so that your foot will not strike a stone” (Psalm 91:10–11). Stumbling blocks of indifference toward our neighbors. Science still has no answer for a cure for Ebola. Christ does. There is no vaccine that heals the disease at its root; love does.

Love can bring Ebola down so that it does not spread. There is no disease, virus, or strain that infects human beings and can withstand God’s vision of transforming the world through Christ. The world could be better, but only with Christ. Someone said: if you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem. We have the solution! Only we do. Neither you nor I discovered it; God did. It cost a life, an unequaled sacrifice, and the shedding of blood for the blessing of God’s children. Our song against Ebola comes from the mouth of God: “Because he has set his love on Me, I will deliver him; I will exalt him, because he has known My name. He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in distress; I will rescue him and honor him; I will satisfy him with long life, and show him My salvation” (Psalm 91:14–16). Let us pray that God will act according to His might and power, forgive human folly once again, and bring this terrible epidemic to an end.

God bless you!