Coronavirus (COVID-19) gets the world's attention. What is God saying?
Coronavirus has done something very few things do: Gotten the focused and prolonged attention of the whole world.
My daily prayer, along with the obvious (that it would be quickly overcome), is this:
Let’s not miss some things that God would have us understand from all this.
What may those things be?
Personally, I am so happy that there’s no need to indulge in speculation! As always, thank God, we need look no further than God’s Word to find out.
A few thoughts on who’s in control, who’s with us, science/technology, love and provisions in a time of need:
1.) God is sovereign.
We are not in control of much. He is Lord of all. He holds everything together. He wants us to always turn to him, in all things. These few verses of Scripture are worth our 60 seconds:
“Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.” (Isaiah 45:22)
“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:16–17)
“…you ought to say, ‘"If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.’" (James 4:15)
“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.” (Proverbs 19:21)
“Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; And let them say among the nations, ‘"The LORD reigns.’" (1 Chronicles 16:31)
2.) God is with us, and identifies with us, in our time of need:
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us (Matthew 1:23).
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.…(Hebrews 4:14–16)
3.) Science and technology are not idols to be worshiped, but gifts to be thankful for.
Part of God’s creation and thus part of man’s talents and gifts, science and technology are very good. And we need lots of creativity from science and tech right now. Unfortunately, there are often fractious standoffs over the epistemological status of science vs. faith/theology. Yet plenty of scientists the world over, many of whom are strong people of faith, are quick to acknowledge the obvious: Science and technology are great, but they don’t solve all the world’s problems. They don’t answer all the difficult and daily existential questions we humans have (e.g. love/hate, goodness, evil, suffering, meaning, purpose). In short, science and tech are not idols to be worshiped (Exodus 20:3), but gifts to be thankful for, and rightly used.
4.) We are to love one another.
I’m thinking of the imago Dei. Man is created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26,27). Not just fancy words, the idea is that humans share certain attributes and characteristics with God. That means that who we are, what we do, and how we relate to one another, flow from the fundamental truth that people, all people, are valuable, and to be respected, treated with dignity, cared for and esteemed. Loved and protected equally.
To this day, it is a common question: what does God require of man? What is the greatest commandment? Many of us can think of art, literature, or songs that have voiced an impassioned version of “God, show us how to live!” Fair enough. I suggest the answer is clear and concise in many places in the Christian Scriptures.
Here it is, provocative and pithy: “He has shown thee, O man, what is good; and what the Lord requires of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.” (Micah 6:8).
And here it is, explanatory in all it’s glory: “Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40 and see Deuteronomy 6:4,5).
5.) God is Jehovah-jireh, our provider.
With Coronavirus (COVID-19) upon us globally, “provision” is suddenly a word packed with meaning, on everyone’s mind.
There’s a famous scene in Genesis 22. Abraham and Isaac are characters, but God is the central character, the star if you will. In God’s timing, God provides, as Abraham is obedient to God’s difficult-to-understand command (to sacrifice his only son, vs. 1-3). Abraham’s obedience isn’t blind. It is a steady gate forward with his burden, passion and purpose. And it is based on his knowledge of God’s ways and God’s promise (vs. 4, 8). Though he is largely in the dark as to details or fulness of reasons, Abe knows God will provide, in his time, in his way, and it will be good.
John Calvin, the history-changing luminary, the all-too-human sinner-saved-by-grace, wrote beautifully on many passages of Scripture. From his commentary on Gen 22:14:
“(Abraham) not only, by the act of thanksgiving, acknowledges, at the time, that God has, in a remarkable manner, provided for him; but also leaves a monument of his gratitude to posterity. In most extreme anxiety, he had fled for refuge to the providence of God; and he testifies that he had not done so in vain.”
God is sovereign. He identifies with us and is with us in this. All for his good purposes, which we live within, by informed, rational and reasonable faith. He’s given us gifts by which we meet the challenge as we love him and one another without reservation. And while the time of this virus is heartrendingly difficult for our soul, our mind and body, the great news is that God has given himself as our provision.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33).
Grace and peace all,
Holt Vaughn
The Theology Project