First US patient dies of bird flu

If you’re like me, every mention of bird flu in the news brings back terrible memories of the COVID-19 pandemic. More than seven million people have died from COVID-19 so far, including 1.2 million in the US.

The images from four years ago of portable morgues outside hospitals are indelible. We went for months being afraid to get near anyone who might infect us. So much of daily life was affected.

In that light, this report stopped me today: A Louisiana patient hospitalized with severe bird flu has died. State health officials reported that the patient was older than sixty-five and had underlying medical conditions. They added that there is no sign the virus is spreading from person to person anywhere in the country.

“I still think the risk remains low,” said Dr. Diego Diel, a virologist at Cornell University. However, he warned: “It is important that people remain vigilant and avoid contact with sick animals, sick poultry, sick dairy cattle, and also avoid contact with wild birds.”

According to Dr. William Schaffner, a spokesman for the Infectious Disease Society of America, “The concern is that this virus could acquire the capacity to attach to human cells and spread widely. That would be opening the door to a new pandemic for sure.”

Fear of a pandemic can prevent a pandemic

If there’s any good news in the news, it is that scientists are already working on vaccines to protect the public. Several vaccines target H5N1; the national stockpile has doses of all of them. Several companies are working on an mRNA vaccine, the same technology that was used to create COVID-19 vaccines. While testing proceeds on these broadly targeted influenza vaccines, they have the potential to limit initial severe disease and death in case of a pandemic.

And so, fear of a pandemic is spurring efforts to prevent a pandemic.

This is how much of the progress that we experience on this fallen planet occurs, from medicines to drought-resistant plants to flood mitigation strategies to asteroid defense systems and the list goes on. It’s hard to think of an innovation that was not created in part to solve a problem.

If necessity is the mother of invention, as Plato claimed, we can be grateful for the necessities of life and even for the fears that often produce them.

How to measure our faith

These reflections were prompted recently by an unusual biblical verse I had never noticed before.

Each January, I begin a simple plan for reading through the Bible over the course of the year: I read Genesis 1, Ezra 1, Psalm 1, and Matthew 1. On January 2, I read Genesis 2, Ezra 2, Psalm 2, and Matthew 2, and so on. This strategy requires some modifications in December, but it takes me through the entirety of Scripture every year.

As a result, last Friday I was reading Ezra 3, where the exiles returning from Babylon “built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it” (v. 2). Here’s what motivated them: “They set the altar in its place, for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands, and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lᴏʀᴅ, burnt offerings morning and evening” (v. 3, my emphasis). “Fear” translates a Hebrew word for “fright, horror.”

“The peoples of the lands” apparently refers to residents of the area who were not part of the group returning from exile and would likely oppose the rebuilding project. Such fears proved well-founded when, shortly thereafter, these adversaries began working to stop the rebuilding of the temple (Ezra 4).

And so, the returning exiles knew that they were in danger from the people surrounding their fledgling community. But rather than appease them, compromise with them, or cower before them, they did what they knew to do despite their fears.

As one commentator noted, we can measure our faith by what we do when we’re afraid.

One reason God allows adversity

There’s another aspect to this story that I think relates directly to the fears we feel today: when we face adversity, the best thing we can do is to position ourselves to experience God’s providential protection and provision.

The exiles were rebuilding the altar out of obedience to the word and will of God (Ezra 3:2). In so doing, they submitted themselves to the King of the universe and made him their Master and Lord.

This is always the right way to respond to challenges and danger. When we surrender ourselves to the Lord, he provides for us as his children and servants. He assures us, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

When we refuse obedience to God, however, choosing to be our own god instead (Genesis 3:5), we forfeit his omniscient wisdom and omnipotent protection.

In fact, it has been my experience that one reason God allows adversity and suffering is to encourage such faith (cf. James 1:2–4). He knows that the benefits of obedience outweigh its costs. But he also knows that we often turn to him only when we must, after we have exhausted our other resources and are finally ready to make him our Lord and King.

“The Lord is waiting to be merciful to you”

So, let me invite you to name your fear today. It may be the bird flu and a possible pandemic or something closer to home. Whatever it is, how can your fear prompt you to turn to your Father in faith? What “altar” would he have you build in response?

“The Lord is waiting to be merciful to you. He is ready to take pity on you because he always does what is right. Happy are those who put their trust in the Lord” (Isaiah 30:18 GNT).