He’s Still on the Throne

I honestly never thought that I would live to see a pandemic. I’m sure you didn’t either, yet here we are. Like many of you, I’m quarantined at home, staying away from other people in an effort to “flatten the curve.” I have a feeling that today’s children will be telling their grandchildren all about “flattening the curve.”

Unlike many of you, my wife and I moved 700 miles to a new home right in the middle of the pandemic. So to add to an already stressful situation, we had to deal with all of the logistics of a big move, including saying good-bye to our parents, our friends, and two of our children. That last one was probably the hardest of all – how can you leave behind two grown kids in the middle of COVID-19? I can tell you that it isn’t easy. 

Nothing about this is easy. We’ve never experienced anything like it in our lifetimes. This is scary. But my mom taught me something way back when I was a little kid afraid of thunder, Psalm 56:3, which in the King James Version reads: “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” I still say that verse out loud during storms. I’ve also been repeating it throughout the last few weeks.

But what does it mean to trust in God? How do you trust in God? Is God even trustworthy? Which is stronger, the Creator of the universe, or the coronavirus? And most of all, why is this happening?

To answer that last question, we first have to ask why viruses exist in the first place. Or at least why viruses are harmful.

When God created the universe it was perfect. There was no pain, no sickness, no death. But then Genesis 3 happened. When Adam ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, sin entered creation.

Paul talked about this in Romans 8, just after he wrote something amazing and very appropriate for today:

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18, NIV)

That’s amazing! The truth is that one day believers are going to experience life where once again there is no pain, no sickness, and no death. We’re going to experience life in the presence of Jesus. And as bad as our suffering may be here, our future is going to be so amazing that we can’t truly comprehend it until we get there.

But Paul then says something about creation:

For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. (Romans 8:20-21)

What Paul is saying is that it wasn’t just the human race that was infected with sin when Adam ate that fruit. Yes, humanity was cursed, but more than that, all of creation was cursed. The entire universe is under that curse of sin. All of creation is gradually decaying. That’s why bad things like harmful viruses exist. That’s why bad things happen. It’s why we experience evil, sickness, sadness, death, and global pandemics. We live in a universe under the curse of sin.

But why does COVID-19 exist? Why are people dying from this particular disease, right now, in 2020?

Those are legitimate questions, and we’re free to ask God those questions, though he usually doesn’t tell us the answers. 

The book of Job tells us about a man who had the same kinds of questions. Job was a really godly man, and he was also very wealthy and had a large family. Life was good. But then God allowed it all to be taken away. Satan had approached God and declared, “People only worship you, God, because of what you do for them. Check out Job, for instance. He only worships you for what you can do for him!”

(Here’s a question to ask yourself: “Do I worship God because he is God? Or do I worship God because he blesses me with good things? Or even so he will bless me with good things?” Ponder those questions for a moment.)

God allowed Job to lose everything. Obviously, Job didn’t understand why this happened, but the entire book is about God showing Job, and us, three important truths: God is in control, God can be trusted, and God always has a purpose. 

Then there’s a guy named Joseph. Go back and read his story in Genesis 37 then chapters 37-50. Joseph spent years in a horrible jail, but through it all, he learned those same three truths:  God is in control, God can be trusted, and God always has a purpose.

The truth is that God is in control of this virus. God not only knows where every single virus is, but every single one is completely under God’s control. Even though there is evil in this world due to sin, God is still on his throne. 

God also has a purpose, so you can rest assured that everything bad that happens to you in this life has been God-filtered. God loves you and always wants what’s best for you. Whenever you face adversity, you can know that God could have stopped it, but he didn’t, because he has a purpose in it.

God could speak a single word and destroy COVID-19 forever. He could stop it in its tracks with a single thought. Why hasn’t he?

We may never know the answer to that question. Could it be judgment? It certainly could be. This world is certainly full of pride and arrogance. Our culture openly defies God over and over again. So it certainly could be God’s judgment. But I don’t know that. What I do know is that any adversity in your life is subject to God’s power. God never loses control over the situations you and I go through. 

I know that God is in 100% control of this. I know that he has a purpose in this. And I know that God can be trusted because he loves us more than we can imagine. As you go through this season of life, cling to those three truths.

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