As I survey the theological landscape during this time when Covid 19 is creating havoc, I see pastors and ordinary Christians struggling with this question: “Did God send Covid 19?” Some thump their Bibles and say it is God’s judgment. Others daren’t look in that direction and speak only of it being an opportunity for doing good. Yet others speak of God promising to keep us from harm, whilst others struggle to find the relevance of God (or the goodness of God) in the middle of the crisis at all.
So, what can I say that will help?
Whenever we are faced with a tough theological question, a good practice is to go the Scriptures and indentify those key truths that are relevant to the question, which we can be certain about. These truths act like fences that keep us from straying into danger.
We can then ring our tough question with these truths (fences) and say that the answer to our question has to be contained somewhere within that ring of truths.
If we do this with the question: “Did God send Covid 19?” it would be reasonable to come up with the following eight truths within which our answer can be found. Here they are:
- God is loving, and is the perfect definition of love (John 3:16; 1 John 4:10). He has promised to be with us in all situations (Psalm 23:4).
- Times of crisis are times of opportunity when we can show God’s kingdom principles of love, generosity and self-sacrifice (John 15:12-13; 2 Corinthians 1:3-5).
- God always has the right to bring judgement on us in this life as a consequence of us choosing evil. He has warned us of this reality (Genesis 3; Deuteronomy 28:58-59; 30:1-20). God’s judgement is always aimed at bringing about our repentance so that new beginnings and blessings can follow (2 Chronicles 7:14).
- God is just, and is the perfect definition of justice (Deuteronomy 32:4; Is 30:18)
- Evil (encouraged by Satan) is a reality. We all live in a broken and fallen world, and we all share in its dangers (Matthew 5:45). Even nature itself is waiting to be redeemed (Romans 8:22-23). This means that Christians will not have an easier time of it than everyone else. They will, for example, be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12).
- God sometimes uses a situation of sickness to display his glory by healing people (John 9:2-3).
- Times of trial can help us grow godly character (James 1:2-4) and grow our trust in God (2 Corinthians 1:3-9; 12:10).
- This life is not all there is. Christians can view it from the perspective of eternity. God, and his goodness will ultimately triumph. Evil will be judged and killed off (Romans 8:35; Revelation 21:1-4).
If we do theology this way, it will stop us from considering one truth in isolation from all the others. It will remind us that any truth claim we make must be congruent with all the others we have identified.
How do we make this list a little more helpful?
Some of the eight truths are, (for Christians at least), “givens.” In other words, we can accept them and lean on them as they are. This would be the case for truths 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8.
Other truths call for discernment, e.g. truths 3 and 6.
Yet other truths are Christian ‘obligations.’ They state what Christians do (as unambiguously taught by Scripture) in relation to the issue, e.g. truth 2.
And some truths are a mixture of the above, e.g. truth 3.
The challenge for us it to live these truths out in our daily lives.
So, there it is. I hope that helps.
As with all things concerning God, we have to allow for bit of mystery when considering the big issues of life, so, be humble enough to allow it. However, we must also be wise enough to learn what God has had written in Scripture—things he wants us know—things he has put there for our own good.
God bless you.
