How These Unprecedented Times Have Affected Me

The past 4 months have caused us to shift, in new ways, our mental focus to things such as our health, science, technology, and more. What does this mean for our relationship with God?

We are almost four months into the Covid-19 pandemic, into this unprecedented experience. What affect has the last four months had on you? How has this experience affected your relationship with God?

The first affect it has had on me is to knock me off balance, or even off my feet altogether. Life was going along according to plan before Covid-19. I had most things under control. I had routines I followed to grow with God—reading, studying, meditating on God’s Word, prayer, self-examination, reflection—and was engaged in relationships that allowed me to serve, to give and to receive. When Covid-19 hit almost all of my relationships dramatically changed or, practically speaking, ended. My routines, the things that grounded my life and my relationship with God were assaulted and upended. Something, that previous to Covid-19, occupied very little of my attention—physical well-being, infection, personal protection and social public health responsibilities—quarantining, distancing, face masks—now were screaming at me and demanding my complete attention.

I felt disoriented. It seemed as if the still, small voice of God that I had listened for and heard so clearly, was drowned out by the urgency and necessities of my “new normal.” I didn’t want it to be this way. But I felt like I had been swept away and there was nothing I could do to get back.

In his two letters Peter talked a lot about the end times, about the end of the world, about the second coming of Jesus Christ. It was an event he expected in his near future and he warned those he was writing to to expect it and be ready for it. This was one of the things Peter wrote,

The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. (1 Peter 4:7 NIV)

The end of all things will be a truly unprecedented time. The events that accompany the end will be dramatic, frightening, unsettling—at least for some. Surprisingly, for most, they won’t recognize what’s happening and about to happen.

Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” (2 Peter 3:3-4 NIV)

Peter warned his readers not to be swept away, not to be not knocked off their feet by spectacular, unprecedented and unsettling events. Neither should they be unaware of the signs of the times thinking, with the scoffers, “everything goes on as it has since the beginning.” They should be alert, sober, clear-minded, self-controlled, calm, wide awake.

I have written to you, dear friends of mine… to stimulate you, as people with minds uncontaminated by error, by simply reminding you of what you really know already” (2 Peter 3:1-2 JBP).

They should have minds uncontaminated by error and they should be mindful of what they already know.

I think God is using this time to teach me, to train me, to focus on him, to stay close to him in times of testing, of which, according to Peter, there will be more and of greater severity than we are currently experiencing.

We’ve been told how important it is these day to listen to the experts—the doctors and scientists—and to look at the data, the research, the statistics to know what we should do, how we should respond. But what we need most is to listen to God and to follow him. There is no such thing as an unprecedented event for God. He is never surprised. Everything that happens and will happen is according to his plan, according to his will.

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. (James 1:2-8 NLT)

The second way this pandemic has affected me is to focus my concern on my and others’ physical well-being and health—as if that’s what matters most. To “pagans,” there’s nothing more important than this life. All their concern is on their physical well-being. But I should know better. I do know better. What’s most important is not our physical well-being, but our spiritual well-being.

The truth is the world has been gripped by a spiritual pandemic since the fall. It has ravished the world on a scale far, far greater than Covid-19, or any other plague. The truth of this spiritual plague needs to become very real to us. We need to take it as literally, as seriously as we do Covid-19 because it is, in fact, much more serious, dangerous, destructive and damning. What would it look like if the world took their spiritual well-being as seriously as they do their physical well-being?

Jesus said,

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

“Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!

“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.

“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

“And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew 6:19-34)

God has spoken to me in this time about where my “treasure” really is; about whether my “eyes”—the way I look at the world—are “unhealthy” or “healthy;” about whether I’m a slave to money or to God; about whether I am any different from how “unbelievers” (pagans) whose thoughts and worries are “dominated” by physical needs; about whether my trust in God has freed me to “seek the Kingdom of God above all else” and to live “righteously.” What this pandemic has shown me is that I most often talk and act just like unbelievers. I don’t want to act that way. I don’t want to be that way. God, and the world, deserve better from me. And I am thankful for this time of testing though which my heavenly Father has “disciplined” me so that I might “really live.”

And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said,

“My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and don’t give up when he corrects you.
For the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”

As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever [really live]?

For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong. (Hebrews 12:5-13 NLT)

The third way this pandemic has affected my relationship with God is that it has been a reminder to me that this world is not my home, that the kingdom of God is my home, and only when Jesus returns and establishes his kingdom will there be an end to all the suffering, pain, injustice, racism, crime, brutality, sadness, war and death that characterizes life in this world. This does not mean that I should not do what I can to comfort those who suffer and oppose everything that leads to suffering. Love for God is inseparable from love for people. Jesus said,

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

But the suffering the world has experienced these last four months has not humbled us before God and led to the conviction that only God can bring about the “kingdom” that we long for. In fact, the turmoil of the last few months has seemed to only strengthen the world’s faith in technology, science, education, ingenuity, determination, strength and morality—in the goodness and greatness of man. There is no doubt that we will overcome this and any challenge that comes against us. There is a deep seated belief that we are evolving into a better and better world.

But the truth is, this world is not getting better. The world is the sum of the people who make it up. And human hearts are estranged from God and fundamentally evil. The truth is the world is getting worse and will continue to do so until God says enough, and Jesus returns to end it and to establish a new heavens and earth.

Peter, the other disciples, the Jews in Jesus’ day were hoping for and expecting a Messiah from God who would set them free from Roman oppression and set up a earthly kingdom. Jesus made it clear that was the kind of kingdom “man” has in mind, but not God (Matthew 16:21-27). Jesus said his kingdom was not “of this world” (John 18:36). Jesus said, “What good will it be to gain the whole world”—find a cure for Covid-19 and every other sickness and disease, end racism, hatred, poverty, war, all suffering—if you do not have God, if you “forfeit your soul” (Matthew 16:26)? Jesus’ great commission to his disciples was not to go and make a better world, it was go and make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20).

These last four months have been a reminder to me how weak and fragile and evil I am and this world is. Our only hope—my hope—is in God.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God…

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (11:8-10,13-16)

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever….

He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. (Revelation 22:1-5,20) ▲