A mandate for these terrible times

Leviticus 6; Psalms 5–6; Proverbs 21; Colossians 4

Bad news. Someone we love dearly had a breakdown and is hospitalized. She is in another country. We cannot travel. She cannot come home. As I came to the Lord again today, He first encourages me with the words of the psalmist.

My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee and will look up. (Psalm 5:3, KJV)

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield. (Psalm 5:11–12, ESV)

Look to Him, take refuge in Him. He will protect me and cover me. I am praying He will do the same for this other person. I don’t fully know her spiritual situation, but she needs Jesus and the sense of His presence. Her situation is bad enough but it happens in terrifying times. This pandemic is getting worse.

Before I read the Scriptures, someone called us from the USA. She said that in her part of the world, people are carrying on as if nothing is happening. There is no isolation, distancing or caution. She firmly declared that the biggest reason is this rationale of ‘what is true for you is true for you and what is true for me is true for me’ — because it has replaced objective truth. In other words, if someone believes that Covid-19 is not serious, then for them, it is not serious.

The Bible gave me this verse: “One who wanders from the way of good sense will rest in the assembly of the dead” (Proverbs 21:16) and I shuddered. Other verses say the same thing:

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice. (Proverbs 12:15)

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. (Proverbs 14:12)

That view of truth is not working. The news says New York will run out of ventilators in a few days. Bodies are being stored in refrigerated trucks. Hundreds are dying every day in that city along. A self-centered view of truth cannot changed those realities.

Human ideas are failing humanity! We need to seek His face. “No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the Lord.” (Proverbs 21:30)

All that said, what can I do about this? I’m not a doctor or in any position with any skills to do much. But I can pray. For that, God gives more instruction. As usual, He focuses on eternal destiny more than current problems. We will all die eventually, virus or not, and need to make sure we are ready for that.

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. (Colossians 4:2–4)

For those who don’t know Jesus, I’m to make the message clear. I want people to know Jesus so when death comes, they are not fearful but excited to see His face.

I’m also to do it with the right attitude:

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Colossians 4:5–6)

For those who are already believers, I can pray for maturity and a true picture of God’s will. Some think that just because they are Christian, they are exempt from this virus. Again, we all die, virus or not. The issue in the time we have before that ‘promotion to glory’ is that we live as Jesus wants us to live. I’m to pray for that for His people, myself included:

Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. (Colossians 4:12)

APPLY: See above, but also take this seriously. I’ve never had more time or reason to pray. One of my prayers is that the people of God will be doing the same thing . . . seeking His face and looking up for His truth, direction and strength to obey whatever He tells us.