• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Sermo Humilis

Humble Speech

  • Home
  • Topics
    • Just a Thought
    • Who we Are Instead
    • Life in Christendom
  • Series
    • Topical
      • Words that Matter
      • Jesus Through all of Life
      • 8 Weeks Before Marriage
      • Life and Times of Jesus
      • Rock of Ages
      • The Ten Commandments
    • Bible Book
      • Proverbs
      • The Book of Ezra
      • 1 Corinthians
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Show Search
Hide Search
You are here: Home / Just a Thought / When the Fever Breaks

When the Fever Breaks

20 August 2020 By David Trounce

Reading Time: 3 minutes
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

When the Fever Breaks - Sermo Humilis

The world is currently in the grip of a panicked fever. But fevers break, and so will this. In the meantime, many believers are concerned about having a good testimony. They want to be seen doing what everybody around them thinks is the right thing.

But, as someone put it recently, a good testimony is not something you have during the crisis. It’s something you have after the panic has passed1.

This panic will pass and when it passes and we look back over our shoulder, it will not be a good testimony to have participated in – or fuelled, the panic. Those who through fear or for the applause of men go along with this train wreck will find that their testimony has been compromised and discredited when the madness dies down.

It will not be a good testimony to have rebuked a son because he hugged his dying mother.

It will not be a good testimony to have silently approved of ripping a newborn baby from his mother’s arms for days on end because, even though she lives in a town with zero cases, she comes from the wrong side of the border.

It will not be a good testimony to have berated two kids who stood too closely at a bus stop. It will not be a good testimony to have called the cops on your neighbour because you counted 7 heads instead of 5 standing in the driveway.

It will not be a good testimony to have worn a mask in a shopping centre on the basis of love for neighbour while simultaneously screeching at a mother and her 5-year-old son and wishing them harm because they are not.

And it will not be a good testimony, having been set free from the fear of death, to be enslaved or to have enslaved others to that fear once more (Hebrews 2:15).

Yes, the virus is a real thing. But so is the madness. And both are sent from God.

I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursues. (Leviticus 26:36)

The world is currently in the grip of a thriller and they want you to stay on the page. It is a story grounded in fear. Fear of the invisible, fear of neighbour, and the fear of punishment for those who do not sufficiently behave according to that fear.

But we are not called to adorn our faces with fear, but with the gospel.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

God is currently sculpting the faces of those who look to Him. That is our testimony.

What will that testimony look like?

It will look like refusing to bind somebody else’s conscience. It will look like holding fast to the narrative of scripture which brings liberty of conscience and rejecting the narrative of the world which brings only slavery.

It will look like faith in God, not the fear of man. It will look like strengthening the weak – not terrifying them.

It will look like truth, patience, and much grace toward those trapped by superstition. It will be the kind of love that endures the scorn of others with a glad heart when they accuse us of going off-script.

And it will look like trembling, not in the face of a virus, but before the face of a Holy God who brought this dread upon us so that we would repent of our idolatry (Jeremiah 18:8, Luke 13:5).


1Blog and Mablog, August 17th, 2020

Related...

For the Joy Set Before Him

Little Gain Without Some Loss

Pray for them that Keep Watch

Jesus, Fear not Little Flock

Filed Under: Just a Thought Tagged With: Fear, Panic, Peace


Writing Ideas on Sermo HumilisWhat do You Want to Read About?

 

Nothing like real-world issues to focus the mind. If you have something you would like me to write about, send me a message and let me know.

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ralph Waters says

    20 August 2020 at 6:41 pm

    It seems that judgement is the new ‘F’ word. Thanks David for a timely reminder that judgement is a part of God’s plan for unrepentant humanity.

    • David Trounce says

      21 August 2020 at 8:17 am

      Thanks Ralph. Yes, nothing irritates the self-enslaved like that old ‘F’ word. Freedom.

Primary Sidebar

Sermo Humilis

For the love of all things true, beautiful and good.


Welcome to Sermo Humilis, a digital home for biblical discipleship and cultural Christianity. A few new thoughts every week.

Please remember to like, subscribe and share. It really helps me out.

Categories

  • Life in Christendom
  • Just a Thought
  • Who we Are Instead

Find us on Social

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Medium
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Support Sermo Humilis

If you enjoy Sermo Humilis and want to say thanks you can support me here.

Support

Series

Sidebar Series - 1 Corinthians Sidebar - Words that Matter Sidebar - Jesus Through all of Life Series Sidebar Series - The Book of Ezra

The Most Popular Guff

Jesus, Hunger and Thirst

The Beatitudes follow a beautiful and logical progression. The first

Jesus, Ask and Receive

Back in Matthew 6:33, Jesus said, "But seek first the kingdom of God

In the Beginning was the Word, but then Came the Emoji

Okay, so, time to interact with a little bit of our cultures' current

#19 Jesus and Mourning

Mourning and grief over loss are universal experiences. And even

Rejoicing in Judgement

It may seem odd at first that we should rejoice in judgement, but the

Words Fitly Spoken

It's been said that a person's vocabulary is a predictor of their

Women Who Bake

Contrary to popular myth, the Bible, above all ancient texts, extols

See and Hear

On the move? Weekly content can also be seen and heard via Youtube.

Topics

Beauty Charity Children Covenant Creation Death Discipleship Evangelism Faith Faithfulness Fear Forgiveness Gospel Grace Grief Guilt Holiness Hope Jesus Joy Judgement Kingdom Law Liberty Life Love Marriage Mercy Money Obedience Power Prayer Redemption Rest Resurrection Sacrifice Salvation Service Sin Suffering Truth Victory Weakness Wisdom Worship

Footer

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe to Sermo Humilis

Find us on Social

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Support Sermo Humilis

If you enjoy Sermo Humilis and want to say thanks you can support me here.

Support

Copyright © 2025 · Sermo Humilis

Thor's Oak

Around 723 AD, a missionary named Boniface entered Hesse in Germany. Upon finding a sacred tree named Thor’s Oak, he took an axe to it, cut it down and built a church. Many in the town, believing that the God of Boniface must be greater than Thor, left their paganism behind converted to Christianity.