Why Has God Allowed the Coronavirus?

Romans 8:22 – “The whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.” (NAS) 

If God is truly all powerful and all good and loves all people, why and how can he allow this horrible virus to spread throughout the world and kill so many people? If this question has crossed your mind, you are not alone. Throughout history many people have wondered how evil – whether in nature, like the coronavirus, or as a result of human choices, like the Holocaust – can exist in a universe under the control of a good and loving, yet all powerful, God. Seasons like this one tend to brings this question fresh to the surface again.

Romans Chapter 8 provides a powerful description of both why we suffer in times like this and why we can look forward to a time when we will never suffer again. That chapter is really the culmination of the seven before it, where Paul’s spells out how every person has done wrong and that wrong has dramatic consequences that affect all of humanity and all of the world itself. Sin may not be a popular word today, but it is undeniably real. Just watch the other drivers the next time you are in your car if you doubt the reality of sin. Romans 8:21 says creation is enslaved to corruption because of this sin. The good news is that this season won’t last.

“Everything God created looks forward to the future. That will be the time when his children appear in their full and final glory.” (Romans 5:19, NIrV) The day is coming when there will be no mourning, crying, or pain (Revelation 21:4), but that will be when the New Earth comes and the present world will be destroyed.

Now is a season when disease and evil are allowed to exist because it is a season in which sinful people can make the choice to repent, turn from their evil, and seek God’s forgiveness. (II Peter 3:8-10) This is not an absence of God’s goodness or power. It is an opportunity for people to choose. When the day comes when there will be no more war, violence, or coronavirus, your eternity will be set. There will be no more sin. There will be no more sinners. Now pain is a real threat, but we each also have the opportunity to turn to Jesus and receive forgiveness and eternal life. If you have not done that, I invite you to make Jesus your Lord right now. Ask him to forgive the wrong that you have done and empower you to live your life for him.

Can God stop the coronavirus? Absolutely. I pray he will end its effects soon and bring healing to all those afflicted. In the meantime, we can know “that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18, ESV)

Don’t Let Your Heart Be Troubled

John 14:1 - "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me." 

As I write this, we are in what may be the strangest times we have ever seen. Nearly the whole world has shut down to try to avoid the spread of the Coronavirus COVID-19. My University has gone to remote instruction. All large gatherings are cancelled. Restaurants are closing. The stock market is having its worst days in more than thirty years. The natural thing for people to do in such a time is to let panic and fear take hold. We don’t know what will happen in the future. How bad will it get?

Jesus’ disciples were facing their own challenging time as Jesus said these words from John 14 at the Last Supper. In just a few hours, he would be taken from them by soldiers to stand a series of sham trials. In a few more hours, the one in whom they had put all of their trust and hope would be executed on a cross. They would likely be the next targets for execution or imprisonment. The disciples seemingly had reason to be deeply emotionally disturbed, but Jesus gave them a command that I believe he would give to each of us: Let not your hearts be troubled. This phrase shows us some important things we still need to remember in our own turbulent times:

          Fear is natural – Jesus gave this command because he expected the disciples to have troubled hearts. Our hearts, too, naturally wander into fear and trouble in challenging times, but they don’t have to.

      Fear is a choice – Jesus would not give a command we would not be able to keep. Note how even personifies the heart as a separate entity. Jesus is literally commanding our hearts to not be troubled. It can seem hard for us to believe we can control our emotions, but that is the lesson Jesus has for us. We must put something else into our hearts.

      Believing in Jesus is the antidote to fear – Jesus gives us the alternative that can eliminate the fear: “Believe in God; believe also in me.” Tough times can truly test our faith, but believing and trusting in Jesus allows us to experience his presence and access his power that overcomes our fear.

      Better times await – Over the next few verses, Jesus gives us the promise that a he is preparing an eternal place for us. Although we will have difficult seasons in this life that place Jesus prepares for us will be free from all fear. Believing in that hope and promise can give us peace in the most challenging of situations: “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)  

I pray you know and experience Jesus’ peace today.

Complete Life Change

Acts 9:4-5 (NIV) – He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.

Have you had a life changing experience? The most dramatic of those usually only come once in a lifetime and define us for the rest of our lives. I have shared my own story of encountering Jesus on a trip to Northern Arizona hundreds of times because my life started in a completely different direction that day and I have never gone back.

Jesus came to Paul (then known as Saul), in such a life changing encounter, on the road to Damascus. We first read it in Acts 9, but it is so significant to Paul and the whole Christian church that Luke recorded it three different times in Acts. Your personal life changing encounter with Jesus won’t be exactly like Paul’s, but it is likely to have one or more features that Paul’s had:

1. You won’t expect it - Paul was not seeking Jesus when he met him on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-2).
2. Jesus will give you a new life mission – Paul’s life purpose went from destroying the church to expanding it throughout the then known world (Acts 26:14-18).
3. Jesus will not promise it to be easy but he will ultimately promise to make a difference in others’ lives through you – Jesus warned Paul he would suffer at the hands of those he tried to help but many would come to receive eternal life (Acts 9:16; 22:15; 26:16-18).
4. Others will see a change in you but may not understand it – Paul’s traveling companions saw the light when Jesus came but they did not understand his voice (Acts 22:9).
5. You may need others to help you fully understand what follow Jesus will mean for you – Jesus did not tell Paul everything he needed to know in the first encounter. Instead, he called the Christian Ananias to Paul and give him the rest of the details he needed to know then (Acts 9:10-16; 22:10-16).

How many of these have you experienced in the ways Jesus has called you?

What Should We Do?

Acts 2:37 (ESV) – Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

This question was the first of many Peter received as the most prominent leader of the church’s earliest years. The Jews who just heard him preach had seen the sign of the coming of the Holy Spirit and knew something was happening. They had experienced the conviction of the Holy Spirit but they did not fully understand the working of the Holy Spirit, let alone how or if the Spirit would speak to them personally. They did what most of us would in such a situation. They asked someone who looked like he did know what was happening. They asked the man who had just preached to them and those with him, “What should we do?”

Note how Peter answered them. Luke gives us no record of divine revelation for an answer to such an important question. Instead, Peter drew on what he had seen and learned from Jesus. The first word of instruction he gave was the same word Matthew used to summarize Jesus’ preaching in Matthew 4:17, “Repent.” The call for water baptism is a core piece of the Great Commission Jesus gave them just a few days before (Matthew 28:19). Of course, the Holy Spirit had just filled Peter and the rest of the disciples and He no doubt empowered Peter’s boldness as well possibly forging the lessons from Jesus’ ministry into Peter’s mind then words. Did Peter’s response come from his own reasoning or the Holy Spirit’s inspiration? In all likelihood, both contributed. This is likely the kind of wisdom James tells us to pray for (James 1:5) and Solomon tells us to seek (Proverbs 2:6 et al). It is God-given but can use either or both supernatural guidance and natural reasoning, drawing from learning and experience as well as inspiration.

Decision-making is a core component of leadership and wisdom is key to good decision-making. People will continue to seek those who are wise for direction in their lives. We grow more wise as we learn from those who are wise, reason through our own experience, and seek the Holy Spirit’s inspiration.