The ball is in our court. If you’re startled by those words, you’re not the only one. As predictions for what’s to come in the COVID-19 pandemic continue to escalate, many of us may not feel empowered, but afraid or even helpless. The scientific modeling featured in the news certainly can seem convincing—and chilling—with regard to what lies ahead.

But here’s something I’m learning: We’re not helpless. A recent headline, “How the pandemic could play out,” is a reminder that no matter how dire the predictions seem, they are only coulds. They are a “best estimate” of a certain outcome, based on what is known so far. But they are future-based. Therefore, they are not a set-in-stone certainty. They can be altered. And that’s where we come in.

Around the world, people are adopting practices like social distancing in hopes of reversing the current predictions. But there is also something more we can each do—something beyond taking human precautions.

Predictions are not a set-in-stone certainty.

From studying two amazing books—the Bible, and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy—I’ve learned how powerful the right kind of thinking, grounded in spiritual facts, can be in helping us address both present concerns and fears about the future. These spiritual facts aren’t based on what we perceive with the five physical senses, but on what’s true about God and the universe God created. My own prayers have helped me understand more deeply what these facts are and how they’re applicable.

The short version of these facts starts with God as supreme and infinite good. So everything God created must also be good. As Science and Health puts it: “All that is made is the work of God, and all is good” (p. 521). It follows, then, that anything inharmonious could not be truly real, and we can reject it based on a clear recognition of what is actually real. As we open our thoughts in prayer to God’s absolute reality, we feel the tangible presence of His goodness. This dissolves any fear we might be feeling in the face of even the most dire predictions.

Several of my friends, who are Christian Scientists living in Australia, prayed this way during the wildfires that were still ravaging the country at the beginning of this year. The Bureau of Meteorology had said there would be no significant rains until May, and in early January headlines such as this one appeared frequently in the news: “Australia’s deadly wildfires are showing no signs of stopping” (Jessie Yeung, cnn.com, January 13, 2020). Less than a month later, however, following “the heaviest and most sustained rainfall in Sydney and its surrounding areas in 30 years” (Michelle Gooden-Jones, “Rain could extinguish Australia’s wildfires by the end of the week,” nbcnews.com, February 11, 2020), a headline triumphantly proclaimed, “Officials in Australia’s New South Wales celebrate: ‘All fires are now contained’ ” (Bill Chappell, npr.org, February 13, 2020).

The predictions had been unremittingly negative. What could have reversed the grim prognosis? 

While the turnaround might seem inexplicable, many throughout the world had been praying for the terrible devastation to stop. Here’s how one of my friends in Australia addressed the predictions herself.

As we pray, we can feel a lessening of the hypnotic feeling of fear surrounding dire warnings.

She explained to me that she realized that God, divine Love, is infinite. And God’s love for all creation, being infinite, was certainly big enough to take care of any situation, no matter how massive the scale, or how catastrophic it seemed. Her prayers were based on spiritual facts rather than physical sense-based reasoning about the present or future. As it grew clearer to her that God truly was in control, she felt totally at peace, and the predictions lost their power to alarm her. She had glimpsed something of what is spiritually real. She rejoiced with everyone else when three days of heavy rains came months earlier than predicted, quenched the majority of the fires, and filled many half-dry water sources.

As my friend in Australia proved, predictions can actually be useful to us, because they can pinpoint specific concerns that we can pray about. As we pray, we can see that whatever is clearly opposed to good must ultimately be rendered powerless. We can then feel a lessening of the hypnotic feeling of fear surrounding dire warnings. And we can, instead, embrace the promise of God’s presence and power right where a crisis seems to be raging—be it in destructive fires or predictions about contagious disease. Bringing this spiritual view to the situation can help and heal.

The ball is in our court. When we hear predictions of widespread disaster, we can do something about them. And that is to step back from the emotional drama of what’s being forecast and to recognize that predictions, no matter how dire, aren’t a foregone conclusion. They are a “best estimate” that can always yield to a far better outcome, as the situation in Australia did. 

Predictions of evil never predict what’s spiritually true, which is always good. Knowing this empowers us to do something about such predictions. We can challenge them—even overturn them—with prayer based on the recognition of what’s real.