Recently, as I did some reading
and watched a podcast by a brother in the Lord, some thoughts concerning
God, the present coronavirus, and believers came to my mind,
and I thought I'd share them with you. To hear or read the
opinions of many, we're facing a medical crisis that cannot
be compared with anything that's happened in the last 100 years.
In our country, you'd probably have to go back to the Spanish
flu of 1918 to find what they consider to be a similar level
of crisis. Now, I'm not qualified to verify
or deny that. Unfortunately, the government
and the press have cried wolf over so many crises that, in
the end, proved to be of little consequence at all that we are
prone not to believe them or not to take them seriously. That's
the danger of a sensationalized press. But we who believe God
are called on to approach this event, whether or not it's a
crisis, just as we are to treat all events. Paul wrote, whatever
happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel. You can find that in Philippians
1.27. Now, the Greek word translated worthy is not to be taken as
saying that we can walk in a way that makes us worthy of the blessings
that are freely given to us in the gospel. Rather, it means
that believers, in all circumstances, are to walk in a manner that
is consistent with the gospel that they claim to believe. Now,
what does this mean? Well, first of all, living a
life worthy of the gospel in the face of this possible medical
catastrophe means acknowledging that this disease is from God. Everything, whether pleasant
or unpleasant, is from the Lord. When Job learned that disaster
had befallen his household, he said, the Lord gave and the Lord
took away, blessed be the name of the Lord. And when Eli heard
that his sons had been killed, he responded, it is the Lord,
let him do as seems good in his sight. Many have already gotten
this disease and doubtless many more will. And prayers, even
fervent and believing prayers, will be sent up for them. And
God will deliver some of them from that disease. And they will
get well and continue to live a normal life. And God's gracious
healing will no doubt result in praise to God. And it should.
Remember the words of the psalmist, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all his benefits. And among the benefits listed
is this, who heals all your diseases. But as we thank God for his healing
mercies, let us keep in mind that he's not only the one who
will heal people from this disease, he is the one who sent the disease
in the first place. He said, I kill and I make alive,
I wound and I heal. Neither is there any that can
deliver out of my hand. And again, I form the light and
I create darkness. I bring prosperity and create
disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things. As believers in our Lord Jesus
Christ, we gladly acknowledge that all things are from God. We do not feel the necessity
to justify God in this. As God, He's got the right to
do with His universe whatever He wants to do. and none of us
can stop him, and none of us even have the right to question
what he's doing. Secondly, to walk worthy of the
gospel means that even as we acknowledge that God has a purpose
in sending this pandemic, we also acknowledge that we do not
know what his purpose is. We do know that God's overall
purpose for creation is to glorify Himself by the exaltation of
Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. But we do not know how this virus
fits into that purpose. So walking worthy of the gospel
means that we shall still trust our God just as a child trusts
his father even though he does not know the purpose for his
father's actions. Doubtless, there will be many
preachers who will use this as an opportunity to pronounce this
disease to be a judgment against whatever group they think is
worthy of God's judgment. But the fact is, there are no
prophets of the kind necessary who can tell us God's immediate
purpose in sending this disease. Over the years, I have heard
preachers ascribe this or that catastrophe to God's judgment. when the HIV virus emerged and
it became clear that it was most closely associated with the practice
of homosexuality and drug use, many claimed that it was a judgment
from God aimed specifically at the homosexual community. Yet
here we are, some 30 or more years removed from the arrival
of HIV, and the number of practicing homosexuals did not decrease,
it increased. The disease created sympathy
in the hearts of many for the homosexual community, and that
sympathy was turned to greater tolerance, which led to outright
approval of homosexual activity. This approval allowed for their
homosexual unions to be granted the dignity of marriage, and
now the only crime associated with homosexuality is the crime
of not being willing to service their weddings. Drug use continues
to plague our society to such an extent that we are considered
to be in an opioid crisis. judgmental response to homosexuality
and drug use with the intention of destroying such abusers or
to bring them to repentance, we cannot avoid the conclusion
that God's judgments do not count for much. So let believers hold
their judging tongue. We don't know why God has sent
this virus. Third, in order to walk worthy
of the gospel, we must resist the urge to find any sort of
satisfaction in the deaths of those whom we may believe are
troublesome to God's Church in this world. And it is even more
important that we not claim that our escape from any of the fallout
from this disease is some proof that God is pleased with us more
than He is with others. we simply must not try to determine
God's attitude toward individuals or groups, or even ourselves,
by the events that befall them and us. Fourth, in order to walk
worthy of the gospel, we must pray to our God to show mercy. There can be no doubt that this
world, we believers included, are worthy of any judgment that
God is pleased to pour out on us. Anything less than hell is
mercy. And I must be honest with you,
there are none so worthy of temporal judgment than the multitudes
who take up the name of Christ but have twisted and distorted
His gospel into something unrecognizable. Peter wrote, it is time for judgment
to begin with God's household. No matter who we may think is
humanly responsible for the spread of this disease, we must pray
that God in wrath will remember mercy. In all things, and at
all times, all of us are at God's mercy. No amount of governmental
and medical efforts will prove helpful if the Lord does not
bless it. He can kill few, many, or even
everyone if it pleases Him. Remember that on one occasion,
God wiped out the entire world except for 8 people. We are helpless
against His will. But as believers, we are not
hopeless, for we have free access to the throne of grace, there
to seek mercy to help us and others in our time of need. Fifth,
in order to walk worthy of the gospel, we must live without
fear. We sometimes sing the hymn, This
is My Father's World, and we take great comfort in that fact.
And this means that we can look this pandemic square in the eye
and have no fear. This does not mean that we can
live without fear because God has promised that if we believe,
the disease will not touch us. Rather, it means that we can
live without fear even as we know that our Father may have
ordained that we or one of our loved ones will become sick and
die by it. Sadness and grief over loss is
appropriate. The Bible says there is a time
to laugh and a time to cry. But for the people of God, there
is never a time for fear. We know that whatever happens,
it has been the work of the same Father who spared not His own
Son, but delivered Him up for us all, and He will surely with
Him give us all things, all things that are good for us. Paul wrote
that all things are ours, and within the list of things that
he says are ours, he included death. Now, it may seem strange
to count death as something that's given to us as a possession or
as a gracious gift. But for the believer, death is
a gift. It is the door through which
he passes into the presence of his God and Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, as this disease runs the
course God has ordained, and keep in mind, that's exactly
the course it will run, some believers will catch this disease
and some of them will die. The children of God are not exempt
from the troubles common to man. But we who believe do not have
to look at these troubles the same way the world does. Times
may get tough and we may experience great sorrow, but nothing will
harm the child of God, not even if it kills him. Sixth, in order
to walk worthy of the gospel, we must be ready to lend a hand
wherever it's This pandemic has created such panic among the
people of the world that it will have effects far beyond the sickness
and death that it brings. Many will lose their jobs for
a while and may even suffer such serious financial setbacks that
they will be in danger of losing their homes, and they may even
get to such a state that they're not able to provide for their
basic needs. Be ready to help them. I'm sure
that many churches will have fundraising drives, and that
is certainly one way to help. Another is simply to open your
own wallet to the needy. You do not need to work through
an organization. Just give, and do so expecting
nothing in return. If God has given you plenty and
some extra to spare, He didn't give that to you to waste it
on yourself. It was given to you so that you
could help others as a demonstration of God's grace and an illustration
of the grace that God has shown to you. You can firmly rely on
this promise. Seek first the Kingdom of God
and all these things, food, clothing, and other necessities, they'll
be added to you. And do not go to the store and
grab for yourself every bit of some commodity without regard
for your neighbor's need. This would be to violate our
Lord's Word, give no anxious thought about tomorrow. Sufficient
for the day is the evil thereof, and your Father knows you have
need of these things. There can hardly be a more obvious
denial of trust in God than to hoard things for yourself at
the expense of others. It does not matter that you may
have the money to buy it all up. Love demands that in times
of want we all share what resources there are. There could hardly
be a worse testimony of the Lord's goodness than a professed Christian
going through the checkout line, having taken such large amounts
of common commodities that others are forced to do without. Right
now, for the believer, there can hardly be a better way for
you to prove your confidence in God than to go about your
life as you did before except for those things or those changes
necessary for the common good, trusting that tomorrow's needs
will be supplied by tomorrow's grace. And seventh, in order
to walk worthy of the gospel of Christ, we must, in everything,
give thanks. What better time to take note
of all the good that God has done for us in the past than
such a time is now when some of those past blessings are being
taken away for a while? Are you suffering some hardship
due to this virus and its health and economic consequences? What
better time to take note of how good it was before your suffering,
recognizing that all that former goodness was a gift of His mercy? If you are like me, you are prone
to forget to thank God for the many regular mercies He bestows
on us each day. And sometimes we become so neglectful
of giving thanks to God that we become bitter when God takes
those mercies away from us. But in order to avoid the bitterness,
call to mind the years of the right hand of the Lord, and give
Him thanks for what He has done in the past, and keep an eye
out for His unexpected mercies in this time of trouble. They
will certainly be there. And also give Him thanks that
He did not leave you in your unthankful state, but brought
a bit of adversity into your life to remind you of how good
He has made your life. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord,
for His mercy endures forever. May the God of heaven, who works
all things according to the counsel of His own will, protect you
in this time of trouble, and may He enable you to demonstrate
what it is to truly, truly trust Him in times of trouble. The Lord bless you.