"The Church And The Coronavirus”

“The Church and the Coronavirus”

March 22, 2020

Psalm 91:1-7

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.”

My granddaughter, Cassidy posted that seventh verse on Facebook last week. I felt so proud of her. While most people are giving into fear and panic – she puts things into the true perspective. Place your faith in God and you have nothing to fear. If you are living in that love relationship with the Most High, He will protect you. Thousands may fall – ten thousand may fall at your right hand -but God promises that it will not come near you. It’s your choice – faith or fear.

I choose faith. Do you remember the definition of faith? It is built on hope. (Hebrews 11:1) “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

Hope is the trusting expectation that God will keep His Word. Faith is believing that word, trusting God and then acting on that. I think what that means in the midst of what we are going through right now is to believe three things and then respond. What we need to believe is, 1. God is aware; 2. God cares; and 3. God protects. Then, fourthly, we need to respond to that belief.

First of all, 1. God is Aware. Do you think this pandemic caught God by surprise? I don’t! I think He was aware of it before it was hatched up by men in so secret laboratory in China – if indeed that is what happened. Some say it was a biological weapon gone wrong. I don’t know if that is true or not – but I know this: God was aware before that virus was created and He was aware of the antidote before it was needed. I have been reading that Israel has discovered a cure for it. I read where China and South Korea have used an old-fashioned anti-malarial drug, Chloroquine phosphate, to not only successfully treat it but to prevent coronavirus, too.

I predict in a matter of weeks, if not days, this pandemic will be over – eliminated or at least controlled. Does that mean we should not take this plague seriously? No. We should wash our hands often as prescribed. We should keep our distances from each other – especially around strangers. We should isolate or quarantine ourselves if we feel sick. Those are just good common sense measures. But there is no need to give into fear, terror or panic. God has got this. He has our back. This plague may get worse. A thousand may fall to the right and ten thousand to our right – but we need not fear. We can put our trust in God. Read that promise with me again.

“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.”

Psalm 91:1-7

God is aware. This did not catch Him by surprise. David wrote about pestilence and plague thousands of years ago to encourage and comfort us. God is in control. And you know what? God will somehow use this for good. In my devotions this week I once again was reminded of how God can take something bad and use it for good. Romans 8:28 (one of the first Scriptures I memorized) says,

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”