God and the Corona Virus
We are living in this very unique time of a global Corona Virus pandemic. And naturally it raises many questions about why does God allow these events, and is God punishing us and why doesn’t God bring it to an end? Common questions when we are in crisis mode. Sometimes we ask questions like these because we don’t really understand the character of God. When you understand the character of someone, you understand why certain things happen.
Let me give you an example. On our small farm Di fusses and feeds every living creature on the farm to an extent that I sometimes wonder how she has any time to herself. She has feeding rituals for the geese, the birds, the guinea fowl and the chooks. She has even now started doing this for the sheep with the mothers of lambs getting a little bit extra set aside for them. All these animals receiving specially prepared little mixtures. They follow her around like the pied piper. Yesterday she said the wrens were eating us out of house and home. The wrens ! How tiny are they- I ask you! If anyone said she would harm any animal on our property, I would say you have the wrong person.
Lets look at God’s character:
Exodus 34:6-7 (NIV)6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.
and
John 10:10 (NKJV)10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
So clearly when we ask did God orchestrate this Corona virus for some reason, maybe to punish us- the clear answer is No. In Ephesians we see we are adopted into His family and sealed by the Holy Spirit and a loving Father abounding in love would never do this
Also this pandemic is also not directly related to our sin….. remember
John 9 Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind 9 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
We often link God to disasters in the world. But who is the god of the world.
2 Corinthians 4:4 (NLT)4 Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe.
It is Satan who has been cast down to earth
Isaiah 14:12-15 (NIV)12 How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
Jesus referred to him as “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31), and Paul calls him “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2) John makes a further distinction when he says: “We know that we are of God, and the whole world is in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19).
Luke 4:5-7 (NIV)5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendour; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
There are two points I would like to make about this.
It highlights the importance of prayer in our lives.
In the Lords prayer we are asked to pray…”Thy will be done”. Why …because Jesus referred to Satan as “the ruler of this world” in this world and in because in
Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms
And so when we pray, we surrender in prayer all authority to God so that His will may be done in a situation and not that of the “the ruler of this world”
That why we are called to pray- to pray in the authority of God in this domain ruled by Satan!
We should understand that natural disasters happen because of the inherent laws of nature, people fall and injure themselves- you can’t defy gravity, people drown, earthquakes happen, flood happen, people make / unhealthy decisions. Infections and illness can occur and we should not necessarily look for any other reason than the inherent natural laws of this world. As is probably the case in this pandemic
But there is one thing we should always remember in this crisis, and that is God is in control. Remember a few weeks ago we looked at Daniel 9
Daniel 9:26 War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.
This turmoil and destructive forces are thus not unexpected. In Daniel God looked ahead hundreds of years and predicted to the day the coming of Jesus and His death. God has a divine plan. God has complete knowledge of all matters everything that happens is being worked out to His schedule
Proverbs 16:9 )9 A man’s heart plans his way,ut the Lord directs his steps.
Proverbs 21:1 (NASB)21 The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes.
And so in conclusion. We have a loving and caring God that came to give us life in abundance. He has a divine purpose for each one. And that loving kindness is not to harm or hurt but restore and build. To do this we need to resist the ruler of this world and pray in and submit to the authority of God’s will in our lives. Amen