Will this Variant kill us?

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.
Revelation 22:13 NKJV

​COVID-19 got my entire family early this year. Thank God we all made it alive, and as of today, feeling restored. We're grateful that our experience wasn't as horrible as we thought and that we can make light of our stories. 
 
During that time, we couldn't taste or smell. Once, my daughter and I argued whether we were eating "Adobo" or "Sinigang", two famous Filipino dishes with drastically distinct flavors, only to find out it was Filipino pork stew. We called steam-inhalation therapy sessions, a ghost conference; five people with white towels pulled over their heads sit around the dining table. We ran contests for who sneezed the most or who piled up the most tissue with snot. Our house was decorated with boxes of tissue, hand sanitizers, masks, and orange peels. In the end, our Covid-19 episode confirmed that laughter is the best medicine.
 
But, don't be mistaken, we don't want to go through it again. 

So, I freaked out when I heard about Delta a few months later, imagining it might get us good this time. Then my sister in the Philippines called.
 
"What, there's a Lambda Covid variant now!" I reacted to her news.
 
Who thought this virus would run the course of the Greek alphabet? My sister wasn’t quite in remission after her cancer treatment, and her immunity was compromised. With all her symptoms, she might have been COVID positive, possibly with the Lambda.
 
Helpless, I ended the facetime call. Variants of negatively charged emotions clumped in my heart ready to explode like an atomic bomb. I feared for my sister; well, honestly, I feared primarily for my family and myself. Initially, I thought the world population would be subject to the survival of the fittest, but COVID-19 casualties had included some of the healthiest individuals I knew.
 
Is it just a numbers game? A squid game perhaps?
Would we be all dead when the Omega variant comes? That is if natural disasters don't get us first?
 
 As a Christian, I'm not afraid to die. I know my destination is heaven. But I also don't want to pass away anytime soon, and I'd like to play with my grandbabies someday, if possible.
 
Well, almost two years have passed since COVID-19 changed humanity’s landscape of “wellbeing” and the definition of “normalcy.” Two years could be enough time to be conversational in a new language, read about twenty-four books, or finish projects. But our COVID-19 story took a plot twist. After Covid-19 ravished the world with millions of deaths, permanent disabilities, and diminishing global economic circumstances, vaccines are finally developed. We hoped vaccines would put an end to the plague, but its effectiveness or consequence is just a new research area and another discussion point in social media. After taking the vaccine, many stay well, some became dysfunctional, and others have died. Meanwhile, the rest are sitting on the fence, waiting for more reliable information.
 
Unfortunately, there's no clear answer to how we can be protected from COVID-19, its Variants, and the vaccines. To stay locked down or to open, to mask or not to mask, to get vaccinated or not… What vaccine is best? Whose advice do we take? Even Christian leaders are divided by opposing views. If no one knows the truth about the virus, its origin, and its transmission, then no one can be sure how to be safe.
 
The anxiety from uncertainty over this life-threatening condition is a killer more potent than the virus itself. If we succumb to this fear, we will lose the battle. It's dishonorable to die without fighting. So the best immunity against this fear is to take heart. No wonder God's first words to His people when He appears in times of trouble is, "Fear not." Today, more than ever, we need to be aware that God is our ever-present help.
 
As a young girl, I was into reading suspense and mystery books. When I was at the climax and couldn't contain the excitement, I'd turn to the book's final chapter to read the ending. The habit may be a spoiler alert, but it's a perfect solution to the anxiety that Christians suffer during troubling times. The last book of the Bible reminds us of how this story will end.
Jesus speaks 
"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.
Revelation 22:13
 
COVID-19, its Greek alphabet variants, and the vaccines can’t stand up to the Creator, Healer, Redeemer, Savior, and Lord of all. Sickness may kill our physical bodies, but one day our Lord will defeat death -- the final enemy. I believe God is using this pandemic to shift our focus from the confusion and chaos of this temporal world to the peace and perfection of our heavenly home. Let's turn to our Lord's truth and promise.
 
So whenever you fear the havoc of COVID-19, declare the Greek alphabet of who Jesus is; the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

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What are your Covid-19 experiences?
Share how you are overcoming your fear of the pandemic and the vaccines.
How has God used this evil for good?