3 Realities The Coronavirus Doesn't Change
As the impacts of the coronavirus continue to mount, our daily lives continue to change. Restrictions are increasing, more people are working from home (or simply unable to work at all), and churches are having to move fully online.
It's a fearful time. Some are afraid of getting sick, others are afraid of the financial impact, others are desperately trying to figure out how they are going to keep their kids from going crazy with schools being closed.
This virus is changing a lot of things. And yet, some of the things it appears to be changing are simply realities that have always existed, but in our relatively comfortable lives in America, we can easily forget.
Here are three realities the coronavirus doesn't change.
1. We aren't in control
Particularly in a country where we can move almost anywhere we want, apply for any number of jobs at any time, and have the technology to keep us connected with people we care about anywhere in the world, our culture today gives the veneer that we are in control of our lives.
Covid-19 is a great example of what James writes in James 4:13-16 about how we can ignore God and believe we are in control:
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes. Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
In my lifetime, there has been no greater example of how applicable these verses are. At this point, we have no idea when life will get back to normal, and this unexpectedness will either drive us mad or reveal to us our need to follow and trust in the one who is actually in control.
The coronavirus is simply making more tangible what has always been true, we are not in control. To the extent we believed that we were (either consciously or unconsciously), the more fearful this virus can make us.
2. We need God's grace on our lives
Because we are not in control, we need the one who actually is to be kind and gracious towards us in these uncertain times. And yet, this is what we have always needed.
We always need God's grace and protection. We need Him to sustain our health, our relationships, and our jobs. We need Him to keep us safe and to care about us. We need Him to be more gracious towards us than we deserve.
I'm not sure how we got here, but our post-modern culture has created this caricature of God as someone who needs us. But that couldn't be further from the truth.
God doesn't need us, we need Him.
I love this exchange between Paul and the people of Athens in Acts 17:22-25, 28
Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that you are extremely religious in every respect. For as I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed: ‘To an Unknown God.’ Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it—he is Lord of heaven and earth—does not live in shrines made by hands. Neither is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives everyone life and breath and all things... For in him we live and move and have our being.
God loves us and sent Christ for us so we could experience Him. God doesn't need us, nor could we offer him anything He couldn't get for himself. Yet he loves us. And the coronavirus is only revealing to us what has always been true; we need His grace on our lives.
3. God is not surprised by nor afraid of the coronavirus
Providence can be defined as the protective care of God. What we see in scripture is not just that God is sovereign (that is, has power over and is in control of all things), but that he is also providential. This means that God is not only in control, but that he cares.
As God would have it, at New City Church (where I lead) we just finished preaching through the Old Testament book of Esther right before we had to stop meeting as a church due to the coronavirus. You can watch/listen to our series in Esther here.
This is significant because the entire book of Esther is about how God is always working and in control even when we cannot see it or feel it. God is never mentioned in the book of Esther, and the story of Esther is how the Jewish people were on the brink of genocide before everything changed in their favor.
As you read the book, it's impossible not to look back and see how God was moving every step of the way, even when things were looking really bad. What you see in the book of Esther is that God knew all along what was happening, and because of that, He was able to bring hope out of a dark situation.
In the same way, this is what we are facing now. Life looks uncertain and even scary right now. Yet, we have no idea how God can use this awful virus for good. Who knows what positive long-lasting changes in our society this may bring as we spend more time caring for one another. Who knows what kind of positive health care reforms and partnerships this virus might create. Who knows how many answered prayers this disease may bring to fruition.
This isn't to say it life won't be difficult and hard things won't happen, but that a God who is not surprised by or afraid of anything can use any situation for good. Even if we can't see it in the moment.
Therefore, the only way to face the unknown weeks and months ahead is to know, trust, and follow the one who is actually in control.
My hope for uncertain times
There is no avoiding the fact that this virus is going to make life more difficult for a while. But hard times allow us to refocus on what matters. People matter. Love matters. Our relationship with God matters. Having the right priorities matter.
My hope is that this virus would reveal to all of us our lack of control and our need for the God who loves and cares for us. As we face the uncertain times ahead, if you are in need of hope and encouragement feel free to connect with New City Church on any of the following platforms as we seek to bring hope in the days to come: