By Lekan Otufodunrin
There is a definition of FEAR based on the four alphabets that says F.E.A.R stands for is False Evidence Appearing Real. This can be true in many cases as most of the things we fear never cone to pass.
However, fear and uncertainty due to COVID-19 is not the kind that can exactly be described with the meaning of FEAR above. It’s real. From one index case in Lagos, we now have about thousands of cases of positive persons infected.
Beyond the health pandemic, businesses and professions like the media have been devastated with all-time low revenue resulting in companies taking drastic cost-cutting measures including salary cut, forced leave and layoff.
What other proof, some may say, do we need to confirm that these are indeed trying times which can test the soul of gentlemen and women of the media.
However, as Christians who trust and have faith in the only wise God who is able to do exceeding and abundantly beyond what we can think or imagine (Ephesians 3:20) we must not behave like unbelievers who are easily moved by what they see, what they hear and not the word of God.
If anyone who has been affected by the various measures taken by media houses and even those who are yet to, are not sure of what the future holds for them in the industry or in other endeavors and are anxious, their human fear of uncertainty is understandable.
Who won’t be? How would they pay their bills and fulfil other obligations? How will married women and men cope with no salaries or 20-50 percent some companies are offering to pay?
However, instead of getting unnecessary worried about a situation we can’t immediately do anything about, here is God’s reassuring words for a time like this.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6–7)
We should be thankful for how far God has brought us in the profession. The things we have accomplished and what can still do. You should not feel unnecessarily diminished.
The scripture says in all things, we should give thanks. (1Thesssalonians 5: 18) This is His will concerning us.
What we should do is to pray for God to take control of the situation. He is the one who can make a way when there seems to be no way. He is the God who knows the end from the beginning.
We should ask Him for clear direction of what to do and avoid taking panicky decisions or lapsing into depression because some of us can’t imagine why God allowed what happened to us. This is not time to indulge in any self-pity.
This is the time to really wait on the Lord and meditate on His promises with full assurance that all will be well.
Prayerfully, there are also many practical steps to take. Think of the available options of what to do next. To look for new job or not. To work on some other ideas you have always wanted to pursue?
There are new possibilities we must open our minds to not only locally but globally too.
There are however some of us who need to be honest to ourselves and know we have inadequacies we have to work on to get another chance of making career progress God can make possible for us. Some of us have to acquire new skills to make ourselves employable again, especially in the new digital world. We have to retool. We have to break away from our analogue past and become digital savvy.
- Excerpts from speech at Journalists for Christ May 2020 fellowship in Lagos
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