If we could divorce the threat of the coronavirus to our health and wellbeing from its ability to impact the entire planet, we’d have to admit how impressive it is.

Many dream of being cultural influencers and world-changers but lack the power to achieve those dreams. But this tiny, infective agent has captivated the world’s attention and completely altered the way we carry out our daily lives.

The coronavirus is, in some respects, magnificent. It has the power to disrupt global travel, topple economic markets, eliminate public events, incite panic, produce wariness, and create distrust. What’s more, it’s not only changing the way we live, it’s changing the way we think, too. It’s creating a new reality we must navigate that causes us to reconsider, reimagine, and reshape our perspectives.

Right now, we have an opportunity to change how we think for the better, beginning with thinking humbly.

Think Humbly

Napoleon Hill, author of one of the ten best-selling self-help books of all time, Think and Grow Rich, writes, “You are the master of your destiny. You can influence, direct and control your own environment. You can make your life what you want it to be.”

Mr. Hill apparently never lived through a pandemic.

One of the great truths the coronavirus exposes is that we’re not in control. Confronting our fragility—our vincibility—is humbling. In affluent societies, we’re often prone to cavalier living and dismissive thinking. But a global pandemic easily crushes such arrogance. The coronavirus challenges the foolish thinking that we’re immune to unpredictable circumstances.

We are, in fact, not the masters of our fate. We’re submissive to God and his sovereign activity. He makes success and creates calamity (Isa. 45:7). He’s all-powerful, and we are at his mercy in all things. He is good, and his steadfast love endures forever (Ps. 107:1).

This knowledge should prompt our hearts to worship our Creator, who holds the world together (Col. 1:17). As we’re forced to confront our weakness, may God transform our thinking. May we think humbly, and may the Lord forgive us for thinking we are our own masters.

Think Globally

Our world seems small right now as we’re subjected to telecommuting, online learning, social distancing, quarantines, and internet sermons. Despite this temporary confinement, our awareness of global events grows daily. We’re a small part of a larger whole. We’re members of a larger community. Coronavirus is forcing us to think globally.