Where is God During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic?
It was late on a Thursday afternoon; I was walking out of one of my departments at my company to go back to my office. When one of my employees said something to me that I had not heard before, he said: "Don't get the Coronavirus!" I immediately stopped in my tracks and asked, "Coronavirus? What's that? It sounds like something you'd get for drinking a Corona without a lime in it." And yes, I shamefully admit that this was my initial response to learning about the Coronavirus.
Listen to the podcast episode about this post: 'What to Do During the Coronavirus'
At that time, the Coronavirus was only in Wuhan, China. It wasn't real for Americans yet. So naturally, as Americans do, we began sharing memes about it and making jokes. Here's my favorite one:
Little did any of us know that the virus would spread across the entire world and kill thousands of people over the next three months. Since this day, I've heard many people ask the question, "Where is God during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic?" Interesting side-note here, I've not only heard Christians ask this question, but also people who are not professing Christians. Perhaps that is a sign that people are searching for deeper spiritual meaning in their lives? I'll touch on that in a future blog post.Throughout this post, I will be sharing my thoughts about COVID-19. I'll also be covering where God is during this pandemic. To start, I'm going to drop a bomb; are you ready?
We're all so busy asking, "Where is God during the Coronavirus?" But God is asking, "Where are you?"
If you are a Christian, the Bible clearly states in Ephesians 2:10 that God created you to do good works. What good works are you doing right now? At this point, I'm sure this post is already heading in a very different direction than you initially anticipated, but stay with me.For fellow Jesus followers, I found the Bible verse that is speaking to the times we are in. It's 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 NKJV:
When I shut up heaven, and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
The three things mentioned in this Bible verse have happened in the last six months:
- "When I shut up heaven, and there is no rain": 'I don't know how we come back from this': Australia's big dry sucks life from once-proud towns
- "Or command the locusts to devour the land": Hundreds of billions of locusts swarm in East Africa
- "Heal their land": Latest update on COVID-19 (We need this healing, desperately.)
This post is not intended to scare you. In fact, I'm going to share some quick facts with you, which are not to downplay what we're dealing with. Instead, it's to give you peace of mind that this is not the end of the world... As we know it.
- From the Whitehouse: Dr. Birx: Coronavirus Data Doesn't Match The Doomsday Media Predictions
- Ben Shapiro interviewed a doctor who talked about how the virus is not as deadly as we originally thought: Coronavirus Death Rate is Likely Much Different Than We First Thought
- Remember that news stations care about one thing and one thing only, ratings. Fearmongering and negativity produce results. (Big news networks are not required to report facts, most of it is false information that keeps you interested.)
What we're dealing with is not what the world is making it out to be. We ARE going to get through this "pandemic." We'll be stronger than ever before from an economic and health standpoint. My question is this;
Will we also be stronger than ever before from a Biblical perspective? Unfortunately, the answer is NO.
We're not going to be stronger from a Biblical standpoint after this pandemic has ended. I've not seen Christians take the correct course of action during this time. Instead, we're consuming the same media that everyone else is. We're operating out of selfishness. We're spending all of our time playing video games, scrolling through social media feeds, and watching TV. That doesn't sound too much like what 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 NKJV says we should be doing, does it? Here it is again:
If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
God is asking us the same question we're asking Him. "Where are we during the Coronavirus pandemic?" Throughout this post, I am going to share stats with you that will explain why we're not getting stronger from a Biblical standpoint. Also, I'm going to share with you three things that every Christian needs to begin doing if we want to be Biblically stronger during this difficult time.
Three Questions every Christian needs to ask themselves during the Coronavirus pandemic:
#1. "Have I humbled myself?"
Humbling yourself can mean many things. But I've found the most effective way practice humility is to stop making life about you. Instead, make life about doing something for someone that cannot return the favor and spreading love throughout the world.How to humble yourself: Stop making life about you. Find creative ways to serve others who are in need.You may be saying, "Yes, but Alex, we're social distancing right now." I'm sorry, but what a joke. We're already a socially distant world. Don't use the Coronavirus as an excuse to further your normality of being socially disconnected. You can still get out there and change one life at a time. I live by this next sentence: "Do for one what you wish you could do for all." What are you doing to impact ONE person today? (Sharing your Netflix password does not count.) It's time to connect with people like you never have before. If you're healthy, physically go help someone who needs it. If you're not healthy, find a way to connect and serve someone remotely. Be present in people's lives. The world needs Christians more than it ever has before.
#2. "Have I been praying and seeking God's face?"
If there's one thing I've learned in life, it's that prayer is powerful and effective. But, even more, powerful than prayer is the act of seeking God's face. Have you REALLY been seeking God during this time? Or have you fallen out of your routine and become lazy? Or are you too busy trying to save your job or business to spend time seeking God? The most important thing you can do with your life is to spend time seeking God's face and praying; all else is secondary.How to pray and seek God's face: The legend Les Brown said it best, "You have to be hungry!" You have to be hungry for more of God. Your hunger for God must be greater than your hunger for false news on TV or more than your hunger for watching Tiger King on Netflix. You have to be hungry for God!If you take one thing from today's post, let it be this. If you begin seeking God's face, He will speak to you, and He will answer your prayers. Nothing is more important than your intimate relationship with God. I challenge you to take action and make immediate changes in your life during this pandemic. Pray more and spend time in God's presence.
#3. "Have I turned from my wicked ways?"
Now you may be reading this last point saying, "I'm not really doing anything wicked right now." Unfortunately, you're mistaken. Did you know that in Matthew 25, Jesus referred to someone as wicked simply because they were lazy? I'm about to go all extreme on you, so buckle up.How to turn from your wicked ways: Simply put, exercise self-discipline.If Jesus referred to someone as wicked simply because they were lazy, and God has called us to treat life as a race that He wants us to win, then being lazy truly is wickedness. I want to share some stats with you that will further this point. (Quick disclaimer: I do not want to come across as seeming better than the next person - I'm just as guilty as anyone else right now. I've contributed to some of the stats below. I just want us all to be aware and to take action to change our course of direction, which is what I am doing right now, and I want you with me on this journey.)Starting with the obvious, video streaming services are up by an average of 36% in March. This average takes into consideration services like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Twitch, and others. Which, in general means, we're all being a lot lazier. (I can humbly say that I'm just as guilty as anyone else right now. It's easy to sit down and consume. I sat down and finished The Mandalorian, finally.)That's not the only stat I want to share that contributes to wickedness. Off-premise alcohol/liquor sales are also up by an average of 25%. As I've mentioned before, I don't have any issues with drinking, but it is a gateway to many self-destructive ways.
I never thought I'd be sharing pornography stats here on DailyPS, but here we are. Pornhub has reported that traffic to its platform has increased by 18.5% since the pandemic began, and they expect to continue to see these numbers rapidly increase. There's no debating this; pornography is wicked and dangerous.
Now on to my final stat, which I find to be the most disheartening. I did some research using data gathered from four separate mega-churches. From this data, I can estimate that church attendance is down by a minimum of 50% right now. Realistically it's closer to 75% when you factor in smaller churches that are unable to meet or gather attendees online.
Here's a quick summary of the statistics that I shared above:
- We're wasting our time watching TV/movies and the news.
- We've started drinking more.
- We're watching more porn.
- We've stopped attending church.
(Note: I didn't mention wasting time on social media, which consumption rates are at an all-time high right now.)I don't know what you consider to be wicked living, but this sounds a lot like it to me. If this post is getting you frustrated or perhaps you don't agree with it, I want to challenge you to re-read #1 above. You need to humble yourself and realize that your part of the problem, not the solution.What is the solution? It starts with you praying for God to heal our land and seeking His face. Christians need to pull together and begin uniting as the body of Christ by serving the world around us. People who are not in a relationship with God need us more than ever before.
Here's my answer to my initial question, "Where is God during the Coronavirus pandemic?" He's waiting.
God is waiting for us to do the three things that he's asked us to do. He's listening intently from heaving to forgive us and begin healing our land. God is asking that you humble yourself, that you pray and seek Him and that you turn from your wicked ways. And today, I'm asking you as a fellow Christian, to please take action.While we're busy asking, "Where is God during the Coronavirus?" God is asking us, "Where are you, my people?" It's time for Christians to take action. Today you can do something to begin turning this pandemic around. We are the solution that the world needs. I urge you to become God's hands and feet in the world today. Together we can create a healthier spiritual and physical future for the world.