God’s Glory During the Coronavirus

I have purposely kept from talking much about the Coronavirus since it hit America for the simple fact that everyone else is talking about it. We all need a break. That being said, with all the negative reports that are flying through the television, radio, and social media, it is time to have some positive feedback during this season. Here are some good things to contemplate:

1. God is great. God’s sovereign control has been on full display over the last few months. Who would have thought that the world could be brought to its knees so quickly over something so small that we can’t even see it with the naked eye? This reminds us that size is immaterial to God. He can use even the small things to accomplish His big purposes. Conversely, He considers big things, like nations, as a drop in a bucket (Is. 40:15) and laughs at their raging (Psalms 2:4). This is our God! When man extols his pragmatic wisdom above obedience to God’s Word, we are bringing God’s sovereignty into question. God is a jealous God about His reputation. He has the power to help you through anything that comes your way.
   
2. God is good. Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come (Lamentations 3:38 ESV)? I do not wish to have a discussion on theology in bringing out this verse, but I do wish to emphasize that if God has the power to do “bad” in man’s history (aka Coronavirus), then the same God has the power to do good. And as Romans 8:31 says, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” The God who ordained this season in America and the world, is the same God who brings deliverance to us on an individual or familial basis. This should grant us great comfort when the rising waters of adversity swirl about our necks.
   
3. This is an excellent time for self-examination (1 Corinthians 11:28), consideration (Haggai 1:7), and pondering (Proverbs 4:26) as a nation, as churches, as families, and as individuals. God orchestrates seasons in our lives wherein He humbles us to take inventory of where we are at spiritually. Let’s face it, America is becoming ever-increasingly like Sodom and Gomorrah or Jerusalem in the books of Jeremiah and Lamentations. Our arrogance in exalting man’s values above God’s Word is surely a stench in His nostrils. Our desire for sensuality, pleasures, and comforts at all cost is not only unbiblical, it is also not manly or womanly in the highest sense. Our Christian duty should rise to the top during this time, causing others to marvel at God’s grace to us through the manifestations of peace, joy, and sacrifice. Are we overly fearful? We may need to repent because that which is not of faith is sin (Romans 14:23). Are we thinking only of ourselves in not wanting to stay home in order to protect the weaker (elderly) among us? We may need to repent (Philippians 2:4) for not putting the needs of others above our own in the name of mere lust for entertainment or me-time. Repentance is not a bad word but is the means of grace to bring us into line before our Lord and Savior. Chastening is proof of son-ship (Hebrews 12:7).
   
4. We need to redeem (make the most of) this precious time (Ephesians 5:16). While having our children at home with us is not new for homeschooling parents, the pace of life has slowed significantly allowing us to spend even more time with our children or chiseling down our to-do list. If we are intentional, this could be a glorious time to reconnect with our children.
   
5. We need to take seriously the Divine shot over the bow of our boat. I do not believe this is the apocalypse that many news agencies want us to believe it is. I do, however, think this is a corrective judgment from the Lord, a love-tap from the Heavenly Father. Let’s face it; things could be much, much worse. As quickly as this thing came out of China, it can just as quickly fade away into a memory, albeit a sobering memory. In a blog post by Rosaria Butterfield, she quoted John Calvin,

“God expects a very different kind of practical wisdom from us [Christians], namely that we should meditate on his judgments in a time of adversity and on his goodness in delivering us from danger. For surely it is not by mere chance that a person falls into the hands of enemies or robbers; neither is it by chance that a person is rescued from them. But what we must constantly keep in mind is that all afflictions are God’s rod, and therefore there is no remedy for them other than God’s grace.”

Let us learn and apply what God is teaching us. I would encourage you to read Lamentations as a family – it is only five chapters long. It reminds us what God is capable of doing in getting our attention. Chapter three is one of the most powerful chapters in the Bible that I go to time and again in times of difficulty. Whatever God does, He is “in the right” (Lamentations 1:18).

During this season, may we bless the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God (2 Corinthians 1:3,4). Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12:1). Finally, may we ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; and worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

Amen and Amen.