Isolation

Only now, in my elderly years, do I realize how much I, as a child, relied on my father for faith and protection. He was a pastor in Mauritius, where I was born and raised. I had a peaceful, happy life in a warm, sunny country.

But when cyclones beat the island, I was scared even with my dad around. Once we listened to a local radio broadcast until the last words —“Bonne chance! [Good luck!]”— were spoken. Then the transmission went off the air.

We were isolated, alone in the dark, to fight against the vicious elements of destruction. Of our four-bedroom house, one bedroom remained intact, and in it, seven kids huddled on the double bed, waiting for the cyclone to leave.

Our house had front and back verandas.

On each side of the house was a gate leading to a walled path toward the back of the house. Once, strong winds destroyed our front veranda, shattering all its windows. One side of the house started to bow in as if the wall were about to crush it. My dad lifted his arms in the air and called on God to stop the wall from falling on our wooden house. It stopped. We were safe —isolated but safe in God’s care.

As I write this in March 2020, COVID-19 is a plague on this earth. People are dying while world leaders are trying their best to stop this virus from spreading. But people continue to die. People are told to isolate themselves, and in some places, soldiers are ready to enforce the law. Children are well aware of the situation because they can’t attend school, socialize with friends, or go to playgrounds.

Most businesses are closed. Isolate! Isolate! Yesterday’s local news depicted schoolchildren crying because they’d had no time to say goodbye to all their friends before going into isolation. All this is a reminder of our need to connect with Jesus and draw closer to Him as we isolate from evil and repent of our sins.

He doesn’t mind everybody drawing close to Him. The more, the happier, for all of us —and for Jesus. He promises to care for us.

Let’s believe in Him and trust Him more than anybody or anything.

He is in control and is our only safety!

Monique Lombart De Oliveira