When tragedy strikes in our lives, we often ask ourselves and other people questions like, “Why did this happen?” “Why did God do this?” These questions are natural and normal to ask but we should refrain from always demanding an answer that satisfies what we’re hoping to hear. If we’re not careful, we can let our anger, sadness, despair, and confusion blind us into believing things that are hurtful or even damaging to our souls, or the hearts of others.

A fiction book I really love, To Kill A Mockingbird, centers around the accusation and trial of a black man, Tom, who allegedly raped a young white woman in Alabama in the 1930’s. A local attorney, Atticus, is appointed to defend Tom in the trial, who it turns out was falsely accused. Atticus does his best to defend Tom, pitting him against the white townspeople, leading them to accuse him of being an enemy to white people. The towns people’s bigoted hatred for black people leads them to unsuccessfully lynch, but successfully convict Tom of the alleged rape. Sadly, Tom is imprisoned and is later killed while trying to escape for the crime he didn’t commit.

I see a lot of things in this story that are relevant to our current situation with the COVID- 19 epidemic. COVID-19, unlike the fake crime in To Kill A Mockingbird, is very real, but our natural responses to our tragedy can be misguided just like the responses of the townspeople were in To Kill A Mockingbird. The white townspeople let their fears, prejudices, and emotions rule them, and ultimately an innocent man died because of it. Unfortunately, this is all too real for us right now as hate speech and racial prejudice against Chinese and other eastern-Asian people has risen in the past couple of months.

Right now, we are all looking for answers to questions about the virus and all of the problems it is causing in every facet of our lives. As we desperately look for answers, the ones we want to hear are rarely, if ever, the truth. We want someone or something concrete to blame for this, but we may never really know that answer. Even if we did find an answer, it probably wouldn’t help that much. Even if we aren’t trying to necessarily blame someone, we attempt to justify the disease by saying that we or others deserved this as some form of cosmic or divine judgment. There’s really not much we can do about what’s happening and that doesn’t sit well with our culture and or the way we see the world. We are supposed to be productive, help others, and carry out justice on those who caused this. We are so desperate for satisfying answers that we will ignore the facts, warnings from health officials, and decrees from governmental leaders in order to get them. Whatever the desire, we can all find ways to satisfy our thoughts and feelings right now and completely ignore the truth in the process. Not only would we be living a lie, but we can cause a lot of trouble and damage by doing so. In the midst of all of this, God calls us to be mature; “no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ” (Ephesians 4:14-15 NIV).

Specifically, troubling to me are the claims that this disease is God’s punishment to a sinful and wicked humanity. Now, I understand how someone could make this claim. On the surface, there appears to be numerous relevant precedents in the Bible for God sending disasters against those who are sinful, wicked, or who oppose Him. There’s the flood God sends to destroy the whole earth except for Noah, his family, and a few pairs of every animal; the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; the plagues of Egypt; the annihilation of any wicked tribe in Canaan that refuses to worship and follow the LORD down to the last woman and infant; the two Israelite exiles where God sends first the Assyrians and then the Babylonians to destroy them and take them out of Israel. Then there’s all the other smaller scale examples of God’s wrath and justice being brought against Him and Israel’s enemies. Though these examples may seem like perfect comparisons to our current calamity, there are several important reasons we shouldn’t use these as context for the current crisis from COVID-19.

Firstly, God always gave a warning to before He brought his wrath against people. God was merciful in not only extending warning far in advance of calamity, but also gave them chances to change their ways and follow His ways. God didn’t just give general warnings either, He always specified the sins of the group being warned and explained what would happen if they didn’t comply. Before the flood, all of humanity knew of God and His ways, but only Noah was found to be faithful and obedient to Him (Genesis 6:5–9). The violent and vile men of Sodom and Gomorrah refused to turn away after warnings from Lot and the angels (Genesis 18:20– 19:29). Pharaoh was warned and offered chances repeatedly to let the Hebrews go, but He stubbornly refused (Exodus 7:1–6). The tribes of Canaan and surrounding lands were offered a chance to follow God and join Israel, but they also refused (Deuteronomy 20:10-18). These tribes weren’t just good people minding their own business either. These were people that practiced cultic worship with religious sexual exploitation, child sacrifice, ritual scarring and other bodily mutilation, and more (Leviticus 19:28; Deuteronomy 18:9–12; 23:17; 1 Kings 14:24). God did not desire for any of the people in these cases to perish, they had a choice. Israel was sent prophet after prophet warning them of the calamity that would follow if they turned from God and followed after the same detestable practices as the tribes of Canaan. The northern Israelite tribes abandoned God and His love soon after they were settled in the promised land to seek the deceptive and fleeting pleasures of the pagan Canaanites. Their lust for sexual exploitation of the Canaanites and greed for their treasures lured them into bondage with the detestable practices. Eventually, every tribe of Israel was destroyed and exiled for disobeying God.

Secondly, God always sent a specific person that He had appointed to be His representative, prophet, or messenger on earth to speak God’s word to the people. The flood had Noah, Sodom and Gomorrah had Lot and the angels, the plagues of Egypt had Moses and Aaron, the conquest of Canaan had Joshua, and many prophets warned Israel of exile. God has always desired to work with humanity and elevated humans into places that offered us a chance at reconciliation with God. A prophet of God wielded a lot of potential power and God knew that false prophets would attempt to mislead the Israelites so He gave them measures for ensuring they were listening to His true prophets (Deuteronomy 13:1-5; 18:20-22). The northern tribes of Israel were destroyed and exiled long before the southern tribes partially because they listened to these false prophets and leaders. People today still blindly follow false teachers and doomsayers and refuse to reconcile with God because they reject His Son, Jesus Christ. Everyone who has set their faith in Christ needs not worry or concern themselves with doomsday predictions because at the end of the world as we know it Christ will come without warning and take care of His faithful followers.

Thirdly, as mentioned briefly before, God has always desired to resolve His problems with sinful people through peace and reconciliation rather than through judgement. However, He sometimes had to resort to wiping away the wicked in order to uphold His holiness and protect the righteous. He does not enjoy nor author pain and suffering for humanity. He humbled himself from His transcendent status as spirit to become a helpless baby as Jesus, which the early church described as ‘the condescension of God’. Jesus lived a life as we have lived, enjoying and suffering in all the same ways we do as humans. He then sacrificed himself in order to reconcile humanity with Himself, finally providing a way for people to cease their endless rebellion that has caused nothing but destruction and suffering. God’s ultimate plan for us is to live in harmony with Him and the rest of creation. The current influence of Satan over the world is temporary.

The story of Job is an excellent place to look as we struggle with wondering why evil and suffering happen in the world despite God’s love and desire for good for us. Job was a good man, one of the best really. He loved his family and friends, was fair and just, not greedy or deceitful. He cared for others and followed God. Satan knew all this and asked God for a chance to show that Job only worshipped God because his life was so good. If everything Job had was taken from him and made to suffer, he would cease to worship and love God (Job 1:1-12). Notice that this is Satan’s idea, God only allows it. Free will even exists to some extent in heavenly beings, which allowed ones like Satan and his fallen angels to rebel. God could eliminate Satan whenever He wants but He seems to have determined that any pain and suffering free will has caused is worth it for His plans. It’s vital to note that God does not desire or author our suffering. He knew that it would happen though and provided the free gift of salvation through Himself to humanity. He has allowed a degree of autonomy to his creations so that they may act against His desires. Satan sends destruction, plague, and suffering upon Job and his family, yet Job never stops worshipping God. Eventually, Job becomes angry, confused, and disrespectful, which is understandable after all that happens to him. The important part is that He still comes to God and desires to follow Him. God didn’t expect nor require Job to be stoic or even happy about his suffering. Instead, He rewarded Job for his confrontation and eventual acceptance after he gained a new perspective about life and the world far beyond his understanding (Job 42:1–10). As God works with humanity, He does desire a perfect world with us, but He doesn’t expect us to be perfect on our own. That’s why He sent Himself for us, so that we may be unified with Him in the future eternity where all is made new and right.

So no, God almost certainly did not send COVID-19 to punishment humanity, because it’s simply not in His character or personality to do so. We had no warning, no offer to avoid it, and no prophet sent to warn and lead us. This disease, though terrible, is not unprecedented. Unfortunately, it is a small part of the larger problem that affects the whole of creation. In fact, the bible tells us that creation itself groans, in a manner of speaking, for its renewal (Romans 8:20–23). Disease, drought, natural disasters, wildfires, climate problems, and more are all part of the problem humanity was left with after the fall from harmony with God in Eden. We have established that this disease is not something God would send, but let’s also touch on the fact that no nation or other group of humans are held to any set of rules or expectations that when broken, are dealt with by punishing them. The United States is not special or held in any higher or lower regard than any other nation or group on earth. We are deluding ourselves if we think some words on a piece of paper or the words of a leader somehow link us in a unique way to God. That kind of relationship only belonged to the Israelites before Jesus, and that has long passed. The United States, nor any other country on earth today, is not in a covenant relation with God. America’s sins mean no more or less to God than any other country’s sins. Attempts to create and enforce laws that supposedly follow Jesus’ desires may be well intentioned, but they will always be flawed and may even be carried out unjustly. We should acknowledge that we cannot view America as an entity that God sends blessings or curses upon in any kind of collective way. No pastor, bishop, pope, senator, president, or any other leader on earth speaks for any part of humanity to God or for God to humanity. This was the case for the biblical nation of Israel only, and that ended when Jesus Christ fulfilled the law.

God is certainly at work in this world and in our lives in ways we cannot comprehend, but He does not send blessing or calamity to any person or group based upon a simple process like karma. God is not obligated to bless or curse any person regardless of their actions; It is up to God alone how to interact with mankind. As such, we should not attempt to interpret specific events in our lives as God working in the world, especially when it comes to disasters. Personally, even when something good happens to me or around me that I believe to be in line with God’s will and desires, I do not claim to know how, why, or if God desired that it should happen. I simply praise God for the things in this world that are good and pleasing to Him to the best of my knowledge and ability, and then pray for everything else, including for His will to be continually done.

We cannot allow our emotions and limited scope of God and His creation to cause us to abandon sound teachings about God and His character, nor allow it to cause ourselves to act in immature and selfish ways. Instead of finding out who to blame or why it’s happened, we should develop our relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Bring Him your worries, frustrations, fears, prejudices, embarrassments, doubts, weariness, loneliness, joy, love, praise, and everything else you feel and experience. God has graciously given us examples of ways to express these emotions to God through the Psalms (e.g. Psalms 3, 13, 18, 20, 22, 30, 77, 146 & many more). He desires to hear from you and to connect with you. He does not desire that you or anyone else suffer.

Phill Coselli is currently a Teaching and Research Intern at Restore Houston. Phill graduated from Texas A&M University and served as an officer in the U.S. Army. Phill is currently completing his Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary and plans to pursue a teaching ministry role upon graduating.

I needed to ask for help this week. Did you?

I have a confession to make, I have found myself in a discouraging place – mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Even before social distancing was the new normal, I was already in a season of discouragement. Then, in what felt like a matter of a few hours, the city I love shut down. My favorite restaurants closed, my go-to coffee shop was now only to-go and six feet became the closest I could be to most of my friends.

I became disheartened. I was disheartened by the distance I now felt between my church, my friends, and my city. I was disheartened that gun stores across our nation were now as busy as the toilet paper aisles while so many were frantically purchasing the means to protect themselves from their neighbors, even if violently. I was disheartened to see so many Christians posting implications on social media that this virus was somehow some form of judgement passed on to humanity from God. Or others taking Old Testament verses far out of context and delivering false and naive promises of healing if we would return prayer to schools and become a “Christian nation” again (as if a nation can be “Christian” or as if we ever were). I was disheartened to see Christians, who should be among the first to surrender or give up their rights for the sake of others, complaining that their constitutional rights were being violated by the government forcing them to quarantine. But mostly, I became discouraged by the deaths of so many all around our world. God hates death, God is a God of light and life. God is deeply disturbed by death. I know that this current affliction humanity is enduring is not what He wants for us, I know He is hurting right now, too. (John 11:35-37; 1 Corinthians 15:20-26)

So I found myself discouraged and asking, along with the great 20th century Reformed preacher, Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, “In this uncertain world, where we have already experienced two world wars within a quarter of a century, and where we may have to face yet another and things that are even worse, here is the question –How are you going to face it all, how can you meet it all?”

His answer was simple. Follow and practice the way of Paul when he says, “I am strong, I am able for anything that may happen to me, whether it be the kind of life I have known for so long or whether it be entirely different, I am ready for it. For I am able for all things through the One who is constantly infusing strength into me.” (His interpretation of Philippians 4:10-13)

“I can therefore summarize the teaching like this,” Martin Lloyd-Jones went on to say, “the secret of this power is to discover what is possible for us in Jesus. What I have to do is go to Jesus. I must spend time with Him, I must get to know Him.” That was after all, the entire purpose of Paul’s life, the source of His strength, the fulfillment of His hope, the cultivation of his peace – to know Jesus (Philippians 3:10).

But knowing Jesus and spending time with Him in His presence can feel difficult, even intimidating or confusing. So how do we know Him, so that we, like Paul, are able to face any type of uncertainty with strength? Let me tell you how it happened for me just yesterday.

God is all about rest. He rests and wholeheartedly wants us to be able to rest as well. “But, Rest? Yeah, right. I’d love to but I just can’t”, “I’m trying but I don’t feel rested”, “I’m getting plenty of sleep, is that the rest He wants for us?”. God certainly wants us to have restful sleep and take a break to stop and smell the roses, but His idea of rest is so much bigger and beautiful than that. God gave us two main ideas for this, Shabbot (Sabbath) and Nuach, (related to Noah’s name): Shabbot is about ceasing or stopping from something. Shabbot is like when the whistle blows in a football game, or when a traffic light turns red. Nuach is like when you kick your shoes off at home and spend time with your friends and family. God has written these ideas into the very fabric of creation and is an intimate part of His plan for humanity.

In the beginning, God intended rest…literally. The first verse of the Bible, Genesis 1:1, has seven words in the original Hebrew. Seven is critical to God’s symbolic pattern for creation and His plans. The story of creation is told through seven days, the seventh being God resting (Genesis 2:2-3). Seven pairs of clean animals for the ark; seven years of labor for Jacob for the hand of Leah and then again for Rachel; Seven years of abundance and then seven years of famine in Egypt during Joseph’s tenure as advisor to the Pharaoh. A complete list of times the Bible makes literary use of the number seven to highlight God’s providence and character are too many remark on here, but one particular use is crucial to understanding God’s rest.

Once the Hebrews became the nation of Israel, God intended for them to use every seventh day, every seventh year, and the year following ‘seven sevens’ (49 years) to enact a period of rest, release, and realignment (Exodus 23:10-12; Leviticus 25:1-55). See, God wanted the Israelites to be reminded of His grace, compassion and generosity towards them every time they thought about the number seven. It was to invoke the idea of God’s kingdom, the garden of Eden, the messiah…in all, the way God always intended the world to be. The 50th year following the ‘seven sevens’ of years was called the Jubilee. This year was to be a greater and grander version of the rest that occurred every seventh year. During the Jubilee there was no working the land, all property that had been sold was to be returned to the original familial owners, anyone who become poor was to be taken in and cared for as a foreign guest working in your land, not as a slave, and all debts would be cancelled (as also happened every seven years). God reminded them that they were all strangers on earth and that God would provide for them.

Another key theme we see with Israel regarding to rest is their promised land. The promised land is the literal geographic piece of land that occupies most of modern Israel plus a little more (Exodus 23:20-33; 32:13; Leviticus 20:24–26). God provided this land for the Israelites and made it abundant with everything they needed. Here Israel would find rest from their slavery from Egypt and other nations. In setting themselves apart from the nations and resting in God’s provision they were then supposed to bless the nations with God’s love and overabundance. For most Jews, both rest in this life and the next would be connected to the promised land of Israel. This theme of the promised land (sometimes with Jerusalem used representing it) carried on with Christians, especially as the first Christians were Jews (Hebrews 11:8-16). Today we envision heaven and the physical resurrection to come as the promised land where all of humanity faithful to Christ will finally find eternal rest and release from hard work, toil, pain, suffering, loneliness, and death (Revelation 21:1-4).

In the New Testament we see God move forward with His plan for humanity with the most pivotal and important act of His story. God came in the flesh as a child and grew into a man, Jesus of Nazareth, who would fulfill all that He had promised. God knew that we could not bring ourselves rest and that He would show and do for us what He had always intended. Jesus would bring humanity rest since all of the past Old Testament leaders, priests, and kings ultimately fell short in being able to fulfill that promise. Jesus, as God, is lord over the laws of Israel and could show Israel His love and how He would bring them rest (Isaiah 61:1-2; Luke 4:14-21). The sabbath, the seventh day of the week was a day for all of Israel to cease from their striving and rest in God’s overabundant provision and to spend time loving others. God’s people had forgotten its true purpose and as humans often do, they created unnecessary complications and rules that took away from God’s true purpose for the sabbath. Jesus intentionally went out of His way to publicly heal people on the Sabbath to do two main things: to show that He is God and the true lord of the Sabbath, and thus the one who reveals the true intent of the sabbath, and to show that He was inaugurating the kingdom of God, and the eternity that would follow. He healed and forgave others to show them the true meaning of rest and renewal that God wanted for Israel, and ultimately all of humanity (Luke 6:1-11).

God didn’t want His people to simply stop working and cease to do anything, especially things He called good. God calls love, healing, mercy, and forgiveness good things, and thus were not only allowed on the sabbath, but encouraged. Any act that brings rest, reconciliation, healing, and community is an act in the true spirit of the sabbath. Jesus gave them a taste of the eternal sabbath that He would return and bring to the world. Israel was always supposed to be His human partners on earth that would act as priests to the nations, bringing them blessings (Exodus 19:5-6). This mission is carried on by any person who follows after Christ and has dedicated their lives to continuing Jesus’ inauguration of His kingdom here on earth. Christians pray and work towards the expansion of the kingdom of God, bringing rest to all nations in joyful hope of the day when God makes all things new, and gives us rest. Christians should not only be agents of rest to the world, but receivers of rest. We should encourage and cultivate a release from past burdens and guilt. A rest from constant worry and anxious planning. An abandonment of self-reliance and worldly success. Our struggles and weariness don’t magically disappear when we start following Christ. As we continue to trust Christ and offer over our pain, struggles, weariness, anxiety, we will find rest in Him more and more. The more we find rest in Christ, the more we can help bring His rest to others.

WRITTEN BY PHIL COSELLI

In the Princess Diaries, Mia (Anne Hathaway) is a socially awkward high school girl who is kind of a major dork. Her hair is so frizzy that comb handles literally snap off in the snarls, she runs into trash cans on her scooter, and she routinely gets sat on at school. People find her so invisible that as they begin to sit down on a chair, they don’t even notice that she is already in it! Then Mia’s life changes one afternoon when she is invited to have tea with her mysterious grandmother from Europe. It turns out that Mia is the long-lost princess of Genovia and her country needs her to return home and rule. The high school dork must transform herself into a stately princess. Instead of just letting it go or building a snowman, she forces herself to learn all the appropriate princess behaviors: sitting up straight, combing her hair, wearing a crown with heels, and dancing like royalty. Everyone notices her. She goes from being invisible to being the star in everyone’s eye.

Soon however, Mia begins to realize that most of the love and affection she begins receiving is shallow. Now, people love her because she is a princess, not for who she is. But there was one person who has loved Mia from the very beginning: Michael. He’s a boy from Mia’s old high school and he’s had a crush on her from the very beginning – while she was still invisible, while she was still a total dork. At the end of the movie, Mia invites Michael to be her date at the royal ball and the two share a romantic, heartfelt, Disney choreographed kiss. Then Michael asks Mia, “Why me?” Afterall, he’s just a high school nerd and she is a princess. Why did she pick him when she could have had anyone she wanted? She is certainly not short of admirers now. And Mia replies, “Because you saw me when I was truly invisible.”

Mia understood something – true, deep, authentic, real love comes from seeing someone while they are “invisible”; in their least impressive state, and loving them still. Michael had loved Mia while she was still getting sat on in the school cafeteria, while comb handles were breaking off in her frizzy hair, while her only mode of transportation was an awkward scooter instead of a princess motorcade. That’s how she knew Michael’s love was real. Michael loved her regardless of whether she was an invisible dork or a princess.

Paul tells us in Romans 5 that “when we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.” Many of us feel we must earn God’s love, or at least maintain a certain moral or spiritual level to keep from losing it. But Paul tells us that God loved us while we were helpless. Paul doesn’t say that God loved us when we came to our senses, or stopped making so many mistakes, or got our act together, or once we could actually bring something to the table. He doesn’t even say that God loved us once we started loving Him. In fact, he says just the opposite – our friendship with God was restored by the death of His Son while we were still his enemies (Rom. 5:10). Michael loved Mia when she was truly invisible. God loved us when we were His helpless enemies.

This is good news for all of us! It reassures those of us who have anxiety or fear of losing God’s love after we’ve made a mistake that we can’t lose it. God loved us way before that mistake, and He’ll love us way after it, too. Fortunately, that mistake was not a condition of God’s love and care for us.
Those of us who struggle with perfectionism can also find rest here. If God loved us as His helpless enemies, then no amount of perfection or spiritual discipline (or lack thereof) will change the overwhelming love God has for us. It can’t. Our pursuit of perfection had no bearing on God’s love for us before, and it never will.

I know that doesn’t sound right, but that’s who God is and that’s how God loves. John reinforces this idea when he tells us, “this is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins” (1 John 4:1). When we start to believe that God will only love us when are good enough, or when we pray enough, or are spiritual enough, or have overcome our character defects enough, we are actually cheapening God’s love. We see God’s love more like the paparazzi’s love for Mia – only interested in us when we are presentable and stately. We make His love out to be superficial and shallow when it isn’t. Love that loves only when it’s easy to love, isn’t really love, its superficial, just like Mia discovered. Michael had affection for her at all times, even when she was invisible to most people around her. Love that loves when we are invisible, when we are helpless, when we are objectionable, when we don’t have it all together, is real love – it is who God is and the kind of love He has for us.