I was thinking about different topics for this week’s message. Some weeks I zero in on a topic quickly and develop it early in the week. Other weeks, I have a number of thoughts and it takes awhile to know which one God wants to talk about. Such was the case this week, as I had a number of thoughts and potential ideas for this week’s message. Monday, my brain was working overtime thinking about different topics. I wrote some notes on different topics to see if any idea developed into a message but, in the end, I was exhausted from all my work but none of the topics took off in my head and heart. My problem was thinking too much and praying too little.
Then, I woke up Tuesday morning and before I got a chance to start talking with God (remember my usual 2 Chairs moment occurs while I am in bed), God told me that we all need to be thankful for the COVID vaccines that we now have available to us. I didn’t start the discussion, I didn’t get to talk at all, God just blurted out to me that this was the theme for this week. I agreed with God that should be the topic of this week’s TGIF message – who am I to argue with God? Instead of spending a lot of time talking to God in bed that morning, I used that time to process the message God had clearly given and let Him assist in our outlining a plan together for developing His topic for this week ….. in that quiet time in bed. Here it is!!
As of Friday, March 19, 2021, 116 million Americans have received at least one COVID shot, and 41 million are fully vaccinated, 12.5% of the US population. Further, this 12.5% represents the most vulnerable people to getting COVID – medical professionals and the elderly. This information coincides with a rapidly dropping COVID incidence rate and death rate nationally since the beginning of the year. So this is a very good first step in beating down this pandemic that has shaken our country and the world for over a year now.
God has given those made in His image the ability to develop drugs, medical devices, and vaccines that can cure or manage many diseases and medical conditions. When COVID hit us a year ago, mankind made a heroic effort to develop multiple vaccines that could effectively and safely prevent COVID from infecting humans. The time to develop potentially effective and safe vaccines was considerably shortened due to new methodology used to more quickly identify what should work in a vaccine. Then, clinical research was started and rapidly moved through the standard process required to document an effective and safe vaccine suitable for the FDA to approve for use in humans – note that no shortcuts were taken in this vital step of documenting the needed efficacy and safety. The third component to this process that helped make it so successful so quickly was having the government fund the production of these vaccines before they were known to work, so that they would be ready to distribute when, and as soon as, they were approved for human use.
Remember that there was no guarantee that any vaccine would pass the FDA requirements for efficacy and safety needed to go to market. But those made in His image worked overtime to help mankind in this very difficult time, they did everything mankind could do using all the intellect and desire to help our fellow man that He gave us, and working to keep our country going as well.
The result is that we are blessed to have three approved vaccines that are now being administered across our country. It is so important to have more than one vaccine due to the mutations that are being seen now with this virus, so we can learn which vaccines may be more effective to new strains that continue to show up.
We also need to remember that not all vaccines have worked. There were more vaccines that have been exposed to clinical trials. We don’t hear anything about those that failed, but we know more have been tested. I point this out because we are very blessed to have successfully developed three safe and effective vaccines approved for use in defeating COVID. It is not an easy task to pass FDA requirements to document needed safety and efficacy!!
The final critical step of the process is for the government to effectively and efficiently get these approved vaccines into the arms of those made in His image. In my opinion, this has also been quite successful given how many doses have already been administered nationally, and in the midst of a transition of power at the highest level of our government!
Having three successful vaccines also allows everyone to get their shots more quickly, so that we can reach herd immunity faster. It is now looking like we should reach this point by early summer, rather than in the fall which had been the more likely timeframe a few months ago.
Although it looks like our country has done nothing but argue, disagree, and fight the past year, those made in His image (from both political parties !!) also pulled off a major miracle that has allowed us to see the potential for this major pandemic to be reduced to an irritant rather than a mass killer in the future. COVID won’t completely end soon but, hopefully, we can return to a more normal lifestyle where children can go to school, people can return to their jobs, people can travel to visit family and take vacations, and people can just enjoy life again. Maybe we can now even seek ways to become more civil to those others made in His image with whom we have disagreed so much this past year – regardless of political party!!!
Psalm 9:1 – I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders.
Amen!