Post-COVID was an era where the world gasped for air, struggling to recover from the strangling grip of the coronavirus. It felt like the story of Noah and the ark—when safety was found only in isolation, and those outside faced the storm.
In 2020, I was a new nurse in a tertiary health facility, stepping into a world of uncertainty. Every day, I cared for patients with raging fevers, relentless runny noses, and headaches so severe they couldn’t lift their faces. The air was thick with fear, not just from the virus but from the whispered reports of one doctor, or another nurse, fallen sick, unable to work. Panic rippled through the wards, especially among those who had worked closely with them. It was a time when every cough, every ache, every moment of fatigue made us wonder: Am I next?
In my church, the House of Grace RCCG Oxford, our pastor taught on building up your faith—a reminder that even through the thickest clouds of fear, disbelief, and despair, I (we) have the responsibility to feed my (our) spirit so much that it floats through the river of challenges.
While I plastered my face with suffocating masks, face shields, and aprons, caring for the sick and vulnerable, the word of God in Hebrews 13:5—I will never leave you nor forsake you—became my lifeline. In those moments when fear crept in, when exhaustion weighed heavy, and when the news of yet another colleague falling sick sent a chill down my spine, I held onto that promise. It was a reminder that even in the chaos, I was not alone. Faith wasn’t just something to have; it was something to build, to feed, to hold onto—because without it, the storm would have swallowed me whole.
My pastor emphasized in his sermon that man is a spirit being, and just like the body needs food, the spirit requires nurturing. But in a world where gadgets—smartphones, tablets, giant screens and endless social media platforms feel like arrows flying by day, waiting to hook us into doomscrolling, it takes a sense of responsibility to make time for that nurturing. Instagram and TikTok feeds are bottomless pits, new trends, breaking news, dance styles, food recipes, and advice from every kind of industry expert, all competing for attention. Yet, the real challenge is the ability to step away, to drag your mind and focus back to what truly matters—spiritual growth. Because in the end, it is that foundation that has the power to stabilize your life, just like Noah’s ark in the storm.
One of those nights, I got home from work with the image of a lovely man in severe distress still lingering in my mind. I could still see the flashes of his relatives crying from a distance, unable to see or touch him because of COVID-19. I remembered standing in the shower, wiping tears from my eyes, wishing the memory would fade.
In moments like that, it was easy to feel helpless, to let fear and sorrow take root. In my Pastor’s teaching about building-up faith reminded me that building capacity requires intentionality—by studying the Word and praying in the Holy Ghost, just as Jude 1:20 says: But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost. The key to strengthening faith is to give yourself to the Word and to prayer, because that’s where true stability lies.
Sis. Ella