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. 

Lots

Acts 1:27 (ESV) – And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. 

In this passage, Jesus had ascended to Heaven but the Day of Pentecost had not yet come. The apostle Peter directed the other remaining apostles to fill the spot vacated by Judas when he took his own life after betraying Jesus. This is a very interesting detailed account for many reasons. However, we must recognize that Luke is describing what happened not prescribing what should happen when we face a big decision.

The process they used actually follows the Story Shaping model I describe in my book, How to Make Big Decisions Wisely. In reading the backstory, Peter recognized that Judas’ death left a spot open in what used to be a group of twelve disciples, a significant number for the People of Israel, whose twelve tribes had always defined them. Peter immediately sought to catch God’s story by turning to Old Testament scriptures in Psalm 69:25 and 109:8 that Peter interpreted to encourage filling the vacancy. However, those scriptures were not specific about who should fill the vacancy.

Peter started crafting a new story as he set specific criteria for the one to take Judas’ place. The new apostle was to be “one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us.” (Acts 1:21-22a, NIV) Peter even gave thoughtful rationale for this criterion: “For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.” (Acts 1:22b)

This apparently limited the choice to two qualified individuals: Joseph, also known as Justus and Barsabbas, and Matthias. To choose between them, Peter prayed and asked God to show them his selection. The disciples then turned to an Old Testament method of seeking God’s direction: casting lots. The New Testament does not record Christians ever using this method again after Pentecost, but many Christians today use other methods of seeking tangible signs from God to determine what to do. I have heard some incredible stories where people prayed that specific and unlikely events would happen as a “sign from God” that he wanted them to make one choice over another. We often call these “fleece,” from the story of Gideon in Judges 6:36-40, in which Gideon asked God’s confirmation with fleece left out overnight being wet in the morning and the ground remaining dry and the opposite, and seemingly impossible, occurrence the next day.

Although we have these stories in the Bible of using signs like lots and fleece to make decisions, we must note they are rare and not recorded after the Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost in the next chapter. God is not constrained in any way to let us know what he wants us to do, but always “casting lots” by saying, “If God wants me to do _______, then _____ will happen to let me know,” can be risky because we cannot always differentiate a miracle from happenstance. Be open to signs but, like Peter and the apostles, do not let this replace the more reliable steps in catching God’s story of searching the scriptures first then seeking confirmation of the church.

The Kinds of Instructions Jesus Gives

Acts 1:4 (ESV) – And while staying with them, [Jesus] ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father.

Luke records Jesus’ last words to his disciples in Acts 1:4-8. These show Jesus giving one, two-part command (don’t leave Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit) followed by a prophecy of what would follow (“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8). Christians today often read verse 8 as a command, but Jesus worded it more as a promise. The disciples’ responsibility was to wait. God would send the Holy Spirit. Once they received the Holy Spirit, they would become witnesses and the message would start to move around the world. We see the reality of that promise today as Jesus’ church fills the world. Yet, even as that mission continues, sometimes, as in Acts, God gives specific direction in the next steps and sometimes it is up to his people to move the mission forward in the best way they can determine.

Jesus’ command in Acts 1:4 only directly and specifically applied to the next step, but his promise applied thousands of years into the future.

If you are like me, you often wish God would give you specific direction for every step you need to take to fulfill his master plan for your life. Yet, for his own reasons, often he seems to work as he did for the apostles: a next step instruction and a long-term promise. Sometimes, though, as we’ll see with Paul later on in Acts, the order is reversed. Jesus has already given us the long-term mission and the short-term promise of his presence without specific direction on how to fulfill the next step. The mission drives us to decide and take action anyway.

The disciples needed to obey the instruction they had from Jesus before the promise would be fulfilled. What do you know Jesus wants you to do now? Don’t worry about all of the things you don’t know. Act on what you do.

We Can’t Know Everything but We Can Know Some Things

Acts 1:7-8 (ESV) – [Jesus] said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

As a young Christian new to Spirit-filled churches, I was always fascinated by people who often inserted the words, “The Lord told me,” into their conversations. I did not have an experience of unmistakable divine revelation on a daily basis. I wondered if there was something wrong with me or if I needed to develop some special skill so I could hear everything from God. I used to agonize in listening prayer for some major decisions, and I often heard nothing at all.

Those questions stayed with me as I entered into full time ministry, and seventeen years ago I began an in depth study of how the apostle Paul made decisions as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles to see if God gave him special divine guidance in all of the decisions he made. I have returned to that subject many times since for my own personal decision-making and to help others make better decisions. When I began teaching the graduate course, The Shape of Practical Theology, on my arrival at Southeastern University, I saw what I discovered in that first study should form a practical theology for Holy Spirit-filled Christians. Several encouraged me to take the Story Shaping model I developed for that course into a book that could help anyone make better decisions. With help from colleagues and friends and the incredible team at Zondervan, my first book from a major publisher, How to Make Big Decisions Wisely: A Biblical and Scientific Guide to Healthier Habits, Less Stress, a Better Career, and Much More, comes out February 25, 2020.

My personal devotional study through the Bible has returned to the Book of Acts, and I thought it would be helpful for me to take a fresh look again in my reading and reflection on the Greek text. There are always new and fresh insights when we come to the scriptures with an open heart. As I find inspiring thoughts related to biblical decision-making, I will write a few for PowerWords that I pray will be inspirational and helpful for you, as well.

It only took a few verses into Acts to see the core concept I discovered seventeen years ago spoken by Jesus himself. The disciples wanted to know if one of the key hopes of the nation of Israel was about to happen. Look at his response: “It is not for you to know…” Jesus’ words here confirm that he will not tell us everything. If he did not answer the question asked by the disciples he’d spent every day of the previous three years with, should we expect him to tell us everything we want to know?

Yet, Jesus did tell them something that would happen. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Jesus gave them what many Christians call the Great Commission with an incredible promise of power and effectiveness. Eleven confused young men on a hill outside Jerusalem never could have guessed on their own that a worldwide church with a billion-and-a-half people would emerge in fulfillment of Jesus’ words that day. He gave them specific divine guidance a few verses earlier in telling them to not leave Jerusalem until they received the Holy Spirit and the prophetic promise in Verse 8 describing what would happen.

I believe God still works the same way today. He often will let us know what he wants us to do and what will happen, but he does not always speak clearly and specifically. We can and must make most of our decisions on our own, but let’s be ready to listen when he speaks.