Impossible … Nope … Not With God

In the news, all we seem to be hearing about is the Coronavirus… or COVID-19 as some call it… so how does this make you feel? Are you asking yourself ‘should I be worried?’ I do… I have… and as a firm believer in God and His omnipotent power I’ve decided that worry is a waste of my time… it also pushes against the wall of faith that God has built between the world and me… but my awareness of it pushing against the other side of that wall let’s me know that I need to reinforce the wall in that area… So just how am I doing that?

The first thing I do is remind myself… through scripture… of several truths that speak to the power of God/Jesus and the fact that He has this… as everything… well in control… That doesn’t mean that there will not be pain and suffering… even death… but it does mean He has a plan… a mighty… mighty plan in all that has and is happening. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” and Luke 1:37 – “For nothing is impossible with God”. We see Jesus declare in Mark 10:27 and Matthew 16:26 “"With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God."   

       

The second thing I try to do is sift through the information in a logical way… distinguish between at least three levels of information: (A) what we know is true; (B) what we think is true—fact-based assessments that also depend on deduction, conclusions or educated interpretation of facts that reflect an individual’s view of what is most likely to be going on; and (C) opinions and speculation.” … and it’s a hard task at best… our world today is a total bombardment of information.

In 2004… Sunday… December 26^th… over 200,000 people were killed by a tsunami in the Indian Ocean. This included whole churches that were gathered to worship that day… swept away in death… that’s a historical fact…. This sort of thing has happened to Christian down through the ages… countless times… and you put that together with the Biblical fact found in Mark 4:41b “Even the wind and the sea obey Him (Jesus).”… a fact as true today as it was when the disciples said it. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)  

So… you put these two truths together… the historical truth and the Biblical truth… you can deduce… Jesus could have stopped that natural disaster… but He didn’t. And because we know that Jesus always does what is just… wise… right and good… we can come to the conclusion that Jesus had a wise and good purpose for that deadly disaster… just as He does with the Covid-19 virus that we are now in the middle of… He knows exactly where the virus started, and where it’s going next. He has complete power to restrain it or not. And that’s what’s happening. Neither sin, nor Satan, nor sickness, nor sabotage is stronger than Jesus. He’s never backed into a corner; He is never forced to tolerate what He does not will. “The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations” (Psalm 33:11).

We die of disease like all people because of the fall from grace caused by Adam…. But for those who are in Christ, the sting of death is removed. God sometimes inflicts sickness on His people as a purifying and rescuing judgment, which is not a condemnation, but an act of mercy for His saving purposes. Sometimes we are disciplined (like a child) so that we will not be condemned along with the world. Jesus brings some to heaven because of the trajectory of their sin that He was cutting off and saving them from. Not to punish them, but to save them. In other words, some of us die of illnesses “so that we may not be condemned along with the world” (1 Corinthians 11:32) “Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.” Scripture tells us that at times God does use illness as a punishment… In Acts 12 you find King Herod being struck down because he did not give God the glory… God can and does (at times) use illness to bring judgement… sometimes upon those who reject Him and His way.

God does… has… and will use natural disasters … floods … famine … infestations … tsunamis … hurricanes and tornadoes … and disease as a wake-up call of divine mercy in the midst of judgement… calling for repentance and realignment of lives with Himself and His ways. Jesus Himself said “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? ³ I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. ⁴ Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?”

So… in conclusion… I’ll say that the message of Jesus to the world through this coronavirus could possibly be… a message to you and me… everyone on this planet… “Repent” and seek God’s mercy to follow in the footsteps of His Only Son… our Savior… Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:21 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”… and if you don’t understand that verse… well… “Repent”

Submitted by Joan Paschal

Member: Bethel UMC