Before the emergence of the Corona Virus pandemic, America seemed to be doing well. Unemployment was at record lows, and the stock Market was enjoying record highs. At the State of the Union our President could boast of the strongest economy in our history. We still had systemic issues—no nation is ever completely free of problems. But we had reason for optimism.
And then came the Corona Virus. State governors responded to White House guidelines and declared states of emergency. Hospitals were overwhelmed and scrambled for scarce supplies, store shelves emptied, businesses closed in compliance, and we sheltered at home, hoping to slow the spread of a pestilence.
It’s been a rough ride and we’re not over it yet.
But for all our anxieties about what’s going on, I wonder if we know what’s going on—what God’s about in all this.
I’m not a prophet, nor have I received any revelation from God. The secret things belong to the Lord our God, Moses said. But the things revealed are for us. And God has revealed words that do give us some indication of how we might reflect on some of what God may be doing.
I have been impressed by how quickly America went from prosperity to fears of a severe economic depression. How a mighty aircraft carrier, proud naval symbol of American’s power and reach, could be rendered virtually inoperable. How all the kings horses and all the kings men are still scrambling to find answers to this world-wide crisis.
A couple of thoughts come to mind. First from the wisdom literature of the Bible, Solomon wrote: “Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked? In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him” (Ecclesiastes 7:13-14 ESV).
We rightly think of this in terms of our individual lives. It is God’s work to keep us off balance; to remind us of our vulnerability. We are not quite the “masters of our fates” we imagine ourselves to be. We are foolish to think we have life all figured out. With one little nudge so much of what we consider certain is undone.
The same is true of nations. Within weeks all of our American assumptions about how life is going to play out have been turned on their heads. Graduates won’t. Job security isn’t. Holiday celebrations canceled. The expected long life of otherwise healthy people cut short.
I’m not saying this pandemic is God’s judgement on America. But we can affirm the wisdom of acknowledging our utter dependence upon our faithful Creator.
And then this:
“The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man;
from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth,
he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.
The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.
Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,
that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine.
Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.
For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you” (Psalm 33:13-22 ESV).
Military and economic power make poor saviors. God is sovereign in the affairs of men and women. He keeps his eye on those who fear him, who take him seriously, whose hope is in his steadfast love.
The believing Christian’s hope in Jesus Christ is that our loving heavenly Father will deliver our soul from death, even if we die. The grace and mercy of our Savior Jesus Christ assures us that he is indeed: “…the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in [him], though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in [Jesus] shall never die. (John 11:25-26 ESV).
So with the Psalmist we conclude that we will wait for the Lord. We will gladden our hearts as we repose our souls in his holy name. And we will fix our hope, whatever comes, on his steadfast, unfailing love.
