Isaiah 45:7: “I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things.”

We don’t know where all this is going or when it will end, but we can learn timeless truths from God’s Word. We can’t afford to waste this event in our lives. Instead, it must make a difference that counts and is lasting. 

Tough times expose the futility of trusting in anything but God. Pastor M. Vroegop wrote, “When God strips you of everything, and all you have is Him, you have enough.” Hardship reveals our idols -- where we put our trust as a substitute for God, like treating leaders, science, and government as saviors. Hopefully these difficult days will unmask and topple our idols, and nudge us to examine our relationship with Jesus and to seek the Lord.

Romans 1:18 says that God’s wrath is directed against all ungodliness and those who suppress the truth. God uses disease sometimes to judge those who have turned their backs, who have given themselves over to sin, and exalted themselves. One case in Scripture was King Herod who was struck dead (Acts 12:23).   Natural disasters, such as floods, disease, etc., may be God’s megaphone to get our attention, to get us to repent and turn to God by grace.

Could an undiscriminating virus lead to a great moment in America’s history? Will Americans, shaken by the reality of a broken fallen world, bend the knee to the God who proclaimed himself sovereign over all -- even a virus?

Prayer:

Empower us by your Spirit, to be more amazed by your wonder than obsessed with worry, more calmed by your sovereignty than vexed by this virus. Remind us that you are in control, even in our unsettled world. Amen.