Since August of this year (2014) there have been 8 reported cases of someone being infected with the Ebola virus in the United States. This past week there was another confirmed case in New York, so that brings the total up to 9. So, what exactly is the Ebola virus? According to the Center For Disease Control (CDC), Ebola, previously known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a rare and deadly disease caused by infection with one of the Ebola virus strains. Ebola can cause disease in humans and nonhuman primates (monkeys, gorillas, and chimpanzees).
Ebola is caused by infection with a virus of the family Filoviridae, genus Ebolavirus. There are five identified Ebola virus species, four of which are known to cause disease in humans: Ebola virus (Zaire ebolavirus); Sudan virus (Sudan ebolavirus); Taï Forest virus (Taï Forest ebolavirus, formerly Côte d’Ivoire ebolavirus); and Bundibugyo virus (Bundibugyo ebolavirus). The fifth, Reston virus (Reston ebolavirus), has caused disease in nonhuman primates, but not in humans.
The Symptoms of Ebola include:
- Severe headache
- Muscle Pain
- Fever
- Weakness
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
- Abdominal (stomach) pain
- Unexplained hemorrhage (bruising or bleeding)
Symptoms may appear anywhere from 2 to 21 days after exposure to Ebola, but the average is 8 to 10 days. Recovery from Ebola depends on good supportive clinical care and the patient’s immune response. People who recover from Ebola infection develop antibodies that last for at least 10 years.
As we can see in the news, fear of catching Ebola is running at fever pitch and people are taking extreme measures to protect themselves. If you believe in God and have given your life over to him, should you be one of those who are fearful of catching Ebola? In fact, should you be fearful of anything at all? Let’s see what the bible has to say on the topic.
There are many Christians who have heard and may believe that if you are truly following and trusting in God that you will be blessed with abundance and bad things won’t happen to you. Conversely, if you have not been blessed with abundance and bad things are happening to you then you must be doing something wrong. Is this point of view biblical? Will true followers of Christ have to endure temptations, trials and tribulations? James 1:22 (KJV) tells us: “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.” This verse indicates that when we are tried we are blessed when we endure, and we will receive the crown of life.
In Psalm 23:4 (NIV) we read: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” From this verse we can see that even when we go through the darkest of times, we need have no fear for God is with us and will comfort us. The promise is not that we will not go through our own individual “valley of the shadow of death”. It is that when we do go through that experience we will not be alone and our heavenly father will be with us.
One of the greatest examples that show that our suffering is not necessarily related to any evil in our lives is the story of Job. If you you read Job 1:8-12 it says: ‘8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” 9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. 10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”12 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.’ Satan went on to take away all of Job’s riches, kill all his children and afflict him with disease. So, here we have a man that was so righteous that God himself bragged on him to Satan. Do you think God can brag on you? Satan went on to do everything he could to destroy Job’s faith in God, not because Job was so evil. No, it was actually because Job was so good. So, what was Job’s reaction to all this? In Job 1:21,22 we read that Job says: “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly”.
The implications from these verses are clear. Bad things may happen to us through no fault of our own, but we need not be fearful. God has promised us that no matter what we go through he will be with us and will comfort us. We will never know on this earth why certain things happen whether it be disease, unemployment, tsunamis, loss of a child, etc. What we do know from God’s word is that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28. God expects us to endure through every trial. Not through our own will or our own power, but through his power. That’s why he has promised that not only will he be with us in every situation, but that we will be rewarded in the end with a crown of life.
You too don’t need to be afraid of no Ebola.