Where is God

Where is God

Covid-19 Series

Collin Leong; 6 April 2020

I. Introduction

This blog was written during the Coronavirus pandemic, named Covid-19. The pandemic started in late December 2019, and at the time of this writing (early April), over 1.2 million people have been infected, with over 64,000 fatalities. The WHO expects these numbers to increase.

Countries around the world are in "lockdown" mode. Citizens are not allowed to leave the country, nor even some of the cities.  "Social Distancing" is the new word, where people are asked to stay at least 1m from each other. Businesses are shut down, jobs are lost. The stock market had never been so depressed since World War II. There are panic buying, being afraid that food (and toilet papers!) will be scarce. Worship places are locked-up, relying on web sermons.

Christians are forwarding theories about why God allowed such a devastating pandemic. Some other Christians blamed the devil, and encourage others to pray against his schemes. Christians said "amen" to both theories. 

In times of uncertainty, we long for explanations that make us feel better. Yet, without the basis of truth from the only Word we can trust, we would be like "a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind" (James 1:6)

Many Christians, as well as unbelievers, have difficult questions that can hinder their faith or acceptance of the Gospel. The bible does give some principles for trials and suffering for times like this. The focus of the believer should not be on the object of fear, but to keep focusing on Jesus and listening carefully to what God is saying to him. 

This blog attempts to address these issues to help us provide basic answers to young believers or unbelievers. 

II. Who brought the Pandemic and Why did God Allow It?

It is an awkward question that most Christians would not volunteer to ask. Many theories are thrown around in social media. The bible says to "test every spirit" and we need to test it based on the Word of God.

We find 3 main reasons for national or global "pestilences" that happened in the Bible.

1. Wrath of God against sin

2. Discipline and Trials of Faith for His people

3. Natural disasters in a fallen world

1. Wrath of God

We know God brought pestilences against certain groups of people in the Old Testament. The 10 plagues of Egypt, for example. The bible speaks of God's Holiness and wrath against sin and injustice. (Romans 1:18)

However, many unbelievers use this as a reason to reject the Gospel. In their perspective, God cannot be a loving God if He does this to people. The severity of the punishment seems to outweigh the sin.

The reason we (even Christians) sometimes feel this way is because we underestimate God's level of holiness and play down the seriousness of sin. As a blind man is unable to see the difference between light and darkness, our sinful nature cannot truly appreciate the real dichotomy between holiness and sin.

As an illustration, if you are in charge of saving souls, would you have sacrificed your son to buy forgiveness for mankind? Of course not - you would probably do what most religions do: "you are on your own, buddy. If your good deeds outweigh the bad, you are in." We would be okay with that, but God would not. To Him, saving just one sinner requires nothing less than the sacrifice of His only son on the cross. We would not still be in existence if God does not have other great attributes that saved us - mercy and grace.

We must have faith that God's wrath, no matter how severe, is always righteous and is justified.  (Romans 2:5)

As an assurance, do note that Satan does not have the power to bring pandemic upon the world without God's permission. The story of Job gives us this principle. God is not only just but is also in control!

2. Trials of Faith

So, why do Christians suffer from pestilences as well, if it is meant to punish the wicked? I don't know, but it was a request from Jesus!

"My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one." (John 17:15).

Believers cannot be harmed by the devil and his demons, but we are not exempted from suffering! "Why not, Lord? Why can't we be immune to all viruses - Ebola, SARS, Corona, Influenza - and why can't you spare us from cancer, Parkinson and Alzheimer diseases?"

I think the simple answer is this: salvation is by faith. If Christians become supermen after receiving Christ, then wouldn't salvation be based on sight? Everyone will want to be a Christian out of greed for power, which in turn increases sinning in the Kingdom of God. God has His wisdom.

Rather, Jesus wanted us to remain in the world "for those who will believe in me through their message" (John 17:20). 

For the Christian, times of suffering is a trial of faith and a call to return to God. God brought natural disasters on the Israelites to turn them away from idolatry and to return to him. This was God's heartbroken message to His people:

"Yet even now," declares the LORD, "Turn back to me with your whole heart, with fasting, tears, and mourning. Tear your hearts, not your garments; and turn back to the LORD your God. For he is gracious and compassionate, slow to become angry, overflowing in gracious love, and grieves about this evil. (Joel 2:12-13)

Jesus never promised an easy road for His disciples. Thousands of souls have been saved because there were Christians who were willing to sacrifice a pleasant life to serve the needy, and to bring the Gospel at the risk of death. Very often we do not put enough weight on the Cross of Christ either.

3. Nature of The Fallen World 

The last reason is simply because the world is self-destructing. Because of sin, "Cursed is the ground because of you" (Gen 3:17). Paul said that creation is "groaning in the pains of childbirth until now." (Rom 8:22).

When God created Earth, He said that "it was very good" (Gen 1:31). Before sin, there were no rainstorms, and the animals live in peace with humans. I believe major disasters such as Earthquake, hurricanes, tornadoes, firestorms are part of the earth's natural deterioration.

The consequences of sin also kills the human body (Gen 3:19). We are susceptible to internal deterioration, such as cancer, strokes, autoimmune diseases and old-age problems before the body gives up and dies.

To make things worse, humans continue to disrespect nature and abuse it. We kill the forests and pollute the air and the water. Out of that comes global warming, dried-up lakes and rivers, severe floods from melting ice, and the disappearance of beautiful corals and fish, our food source.

We indiscriminately eat wild animals, or abuse farm animals with antibodies to make them fatter, which made animal-carried viruses stronger. H1N1 swine flu in 2009 killed between 150,000 to 500,000 people. We indulge in sexual immorality that created the HIV virus, that killed over 32 million people.

Disasters and pandemics are wake-up calls to natural consequences of sin. Do you think that the humankind will awake from their self-absorbed slumber and indifferences? 

Conclusion: Does it Matter? 

All three of these examples could be the source for the Coronavirus. But at the end of the day, does it really matter which one was actually the cause? All we know is God allowed it as part of His redemptive plan. The focus for Christians is to learn the Word and to be able to explain them to unbelievers and believers alike.