Tag: COVID-19

Fears Over Covid-19 will Destroy us if we don’t Change Course now-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment


For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind- 2nd Timothy 1:7 NKJV

On March 11th 2020 I had one of the strangest experiences of my life.

 It was a grey, dreary day in Eastern Washington and the whole world was shutting down over the COVID-19 virus. I had just spoke with my husband whose boss had informed him he would be working from home indefinitely. Our daughters’ school had called to tell me the school would be closing at the end of the week for the foreseeable future. 

I was scared. 

I was scared my family and friends might die from COVID-19. I was scared of getting COVID-19.  One of my daughters worked in a hospital at the time and I was terrified for her. The world knew almost nothing about COVID-19 at that point, so, my worries were not entirely out of bounds. However, I was worried about more than just the virus itself.  I was alarmed at the pace leaders on all levels were making decisions. Even in places with zero confirmed cases everything was shutting down with no metrics in place to open back up. I had no idea what we should do but I had enough life experience to know good decisions are seldom made on the fly. Leaders everywhere were making decisions very much on the fly. So, I did what I do when I’m scared. 

I prayed. Like crazy. 

That’s when things got decidedly weird.

I am not a nut-job. I am not prone to flights of fancy and I do not routinely get messages from God, but that day I did.  It was the weirdest thing ever, in a matter of seconds, I knew a couple of things for absolute certain. I knew the world was under judgment. I also knew it would be a judgment of fear. God downloaded into my brain all at once that COVID-19 was no trivial thing. But I also knew the worlds reaction to and fear of COVID-19 would cause more problems and more pain than the disease itself. I immediately knew that the worlds reaction would be a lot like the Midianites in Judges seven. They turned on each other in fear and were ultimately defeated by their own reaction to what was in reality a much smaller threat than they thought. 

They were destroyed by their own panic.

I immediately told my husband all this. I also told a close friend. I didn’t tell anyone else at the time because, well, I don’t like people thinking I’m a nutjob. I was also hesitant to say God told me something that might turn out to be nothing more than my own fevered imagination searching frantically for a spiritual explanation for what I was seeing taking place in the natural world. Furthermore, I know enough of the Bible to know that God has very little patience for false-prophets who claim to speak for God without certainty (Deuteronomy 18:20, Jeremiah 14:14, Matthew 7:19-23). 

It turned out to be totally true.  

 COVID policies have been defined by fear since day one and the terror has reached a dangerous fever pitch. Don’t get me wrong. COVID-19 is a real. Just over four million people have died from COVID-19 worldwide.  I had COVID. It was awful.  My perfectly healthy son was hospitalized with it. I know from personal experience that COVID is real and really serious. Anyone who argues to the contrary, is an ignorant moron. 

That being said.  

The overall recovery rate from COVID worldwide is between 97-99.5% depending on the age of the infected.  Nonetheless, Australia has basically suspended all civil rights and has for all intents and purposes reverted back to being a penal colony. People are literally going to jail for leaving their homes. Church attendance is still prohibited in many nations. Lockdowns have become an accepted part of life. In the United States fear of the unvaccinated has reached a level of hysteria that is teetering on dangerous. 

Why?

 Are so many of the vaccinated willing and even apparently enthusiastic to strip the unvaccinated of their jobs, healthcare benefits, and social acceptability? In some places the unvaccinated are restricted from eating in restaurants or going to a mall, even with a negative COVID test or proof they’ve had the virus. There are a growing number of doctors who refuse to treat the unvaccinated for any illness even illnesses unrelated to COVID.

 How will taking away someone’s health insurance or refusing them medical care make the world any healthier? Seriously. Someone help me understand. Because I don’t. This is virtue signaling without any actual virtue involved. If this were any other subject everyone would agree this is unhinged. The only reasonable explanation I can find for the unfettered nuttiness is fear. 

Everything God downloaded into my brain on March 11th 2020 has come to pass.

 We have been told repeatedly vaccines work. Vaccines prevent outbreaks. Vaccines prevent serious illness. And yet, many who are fully vaccinated are treating the unvaccinated as a dangerous threat to their vaccinated selves.  There is even talk of putting the unvaccinated in camps. 

We are destroying ourselves over fear. 

It has to stop and Christians must lead the way. 

Freedom from fear always begins with a commitment to fervent and frequent prayer. Every Christian must pray daily against the satanic spirit of fear that has taken root in the hearts of so many. We have to refuse to become slaves to fear or worldly thinking regarding this illness. We have to be brave enough to tell people it makes no sense to call the unvaccinated a threat.  We must insist our leaders find common sense solutions to the COVID problem. Finally, we have to love our neighbor regardless of vaccination status. 

How Christians are Still Missing the Mark with Covid-19-

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

Sow with a view to righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord Until He comes to rain righteousness on you- Hosea 10:12 NASB 

Dear Readers, 

Beginning October 1, 2021 will no longer be sponsoring my blog posts on Facebook. I will continue to post all new blog posts on my personal Facebook page and my A Wise Life Facebook page for right now. There are a couple of reasons for this change: first I can no longer in good conscience give Facebook my money when they actively censor what I say by refusing to promote any blog they deem too “political”. Second, with so many people getting off of Facebook my reach has shrunk and it is no longer worth the hassle of being careful about what I say just to get a little promotional help.  This means that it will be much harder for readers to find A Wise Life. It will no longer simply pop up on your feed. You have two options if you want to continue reading A Wise Life. You can search for my page every week or you can subscribe for free. Subscriptions are easy: just go to the bottom of this blog where it says “subscribe” and type in your email address. A Wise Life will arrive in your email every Sunday night. I will not sell or give your email address to anyone. I would appreciate it if you would “do me a solid” and continue to share any blog you feel is worth sharing on social media. That is the only way I will continue to acquire new readers. 

Thanks, 

Lisa Price 

Warning: this post begins with a weird personal story that will probably feel pointless to you the reader. It really does have a point. I promise. 

This week I did something that’s needed doing for a long time. It involves a houseplant I’ve had for about fifteen years. At one time the plant was truly beautiful. It was lush and green and it flourished.  People would comment on it all the time. However, in recent months this plant is looking horribly ratty and sad. The leaves that didn’t fall off turned a putrid shade of green, most of the vines were barren and the whole thing was just kind of wretched looking. 

In my humble opinion, a flourishing houseplant is aesthetically pleasing and it serves a useful purpose. Houseplants, especially this particular type of plant purify the air and that helps keep my family healthy.

I like that. A lot. 

However. This guy was obviously in trouble and not even marginally capable of doing what he was made to do. So, I pulled it out of its pot, broke up its root system and replaced the old soil with fresh soil. Then I cut off the vines that were no longer producing leaves and literally ripped what was left of them from the rest of the root system. Then I watered it really well and placed it in a location where it will get the optimal amount of sunlight for that type of plant. At this point whether the plant lives or dies is all kind of up to the plant. 

Sigh. 

As I was finishing up this task a couple of things occurred to me. First, I don’t know how much awareness a houseplant has but if they have any at all this one is probably convinced I’m a total butthead. The plant has no idea that that this was the only way to save it and possibly make it healthy again. Then it hit me that God kind of did the same thing to the church with COVID. Over the course of the last eighteen months God has stripped Christians of things that were familiar, like regular meetings, conferences, small groups and community events. Then He pruned it substantially and now He has put the church back in the culture again to do what the church is supposed to do.  We are missing the mark. Bigtime. 

Here’s why. 

 Approximately half the people who just read that last paragraph are convinced it means I think God wants all the vaccine holdouts to stop being selfish and get with the program. The other half are convinced I think Christians should stop being lazy and get busy holding the government accountable for the wickedness and stupidity that’s become endemic at all levels of government.  

Both groups are wrong. 

Truth-be-told we totally missed the whole spiritual point of COVID-19. Depending on one’s theological inclination (Calvinist or Arminian) God either caused COVID or He saw it coming and permitted it.  

Either way God had a hand in it. 

 COVID was meant to be a spiritual wake-up call to everyone, Christians and non-Christians alike. COVID-19 became a reality because we are a people who have gotten really good at denying, ignoring and blocking out the certainty of death (Hebrews 9:27). We have done this because we are blessed to live in a time when death is something that only happens to really old people living far from the rest of society in nursing homes. As a result, most of us tend to live for the now and never give any thought to what might happen after we die. COVID-19 forced us to think about our own mortality because people started dropping like flies.  God gave us/allowed COVID-19 because He wanted everyone to reflect on death and change their thinking about how to live life. 

We refused. 

Instead of contemplating the transience and fragility of life and turning to God in repentance, most people just got really scared of dying. They stayed scared and mindlessly tried to block out the reality that was right in front of them. It’s the reason why so many were so quick to accept the rather ludicrous premise that a virus might simply go away if enough people hid from it for long enough. No one wanted to face reality and frankly Christians and Church leaders did little to help. Some churches made fun of the fear.  Others embraced and even encouraged the fear (1st John 4:18). 

Here’s the thing.

It is not the churches job to spiritualize fear by intentionally or unintentionally encouraging and/or enabling neurotic and/or fearful behavior.  Nor is it the churches job to take on an attitude of false bravado or moral superiority because the people in the church have no fear of death that they are willing to admit. 

The church has one job. That’s it. One.

The churches one job is to point people to Jesus (Hebrews 9:27, John 13:34-35, 1st Peter 1:13-16).   Fear is natural when people are dying. We only die once, and people don’t routinely come back from the dead and explain the whole experience so we have no point of reference for what death will be like. The unknown is always scary.  Fear of death shouldn’t be ridiculed. Nor, should it be encouraged or coddled in any way. It is not A Christians job to push their personal opinion concerning matters of Christian liberty.  Nor is it the churches job to do battle with the government. The churches job is to point people back to spiritual reality. The churches job is to talk about judgment and death and life and how Jesus can bring us forgiveness and peace. A Christians job is to gently remind people that everyone dies and teach them how to do it well.  Our job is to be a sensible and loving voice of reason in a world of madness. 

Could we just back to our job? 

Rethinking Church Post-Covid-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord– Colossians 3:15b-16 NKJV

By any measurable standard the Covid-19 crisis was bumpy for everyone. The world was collectively awestruck at how quickly a weird little virus could lead to compulsory lockdowns, financial uncertainty, social unrest, church closures and the shutdown of most schools. The gloom brought on by those unwelcome changes took a heavy toll on everyone, including most Christians (James 1:2-3). 

These realities swiftly exposed a host of systemic and potentially lethal problems lurking in Western churches. Most believers lacked the spiritual tools and community support necessary to keep their faith vibrant over a year of forced isolation. Even fewer Christians were prepared to answer the questions that surfaced out of the COVID crisis. Questions like: where is God when we suffer? What role should government play in faith communities? What does honoring authority look like in a global pandemic (Romans 13:4-6)? Is online church a suitable substitute for the real deal (Hebrews 10:25)? Furthermore, local churches struggled with an unprecedented loss of attendance and financial support. Many pastors suffered a crisis of identity when they learned exactly how expendable most political and public health authorities felt their contribution to society was.

Sigh.

Thankfully, the worst seems to be passing. I am personally overjoyed, no one hated COVID world more than this girl. That said, we should all have some very real reservations about churches returning to the “normal” we foolishly embraced pre-COVID. Our Western Church version of normal has been proven to be a lot less than healthy and live-giving. The last thing the church needs is more of what created the problems that became evident during COVID.  Instead the church needs a twenty-first century reformation that begins with:

An end to the Christian celebrity culture- 

Little good has come from idolizing Christian pastors, musicians, and influencers. Most of the men and women put on pedestals by the Christian community have become prideful and arrogant and proven themselves to be completely unteachable. Too many “celebrity Christians” have embraced a life of sin and destroying the reputation of Jesus and other Christians in the process.  Some have become so addicted to media attention that they eventually denounced Christianity altogether to keep the spotlight on them. It’s time for Christian to say “no more” to the celebrity culture.  Instead we must be intentional about looking within our own local churches for faithful men and women to hold up as examples of the faith (1st Corinthians 11:1, Philippians 3:17). 

No more shallow teaching-

A shocking lack of doctrinal depth has become standard in many churches.  Like most of our mistakes this one was made with good intentions. Dumping discipleship programs (Adult Sunday school) and replacing them with small groups was intended to build community and make unbelievers more comfortable in the church. It did neither. All it did was shrink the Church and produce a generation of genuinely ignorant and spiritually immature Christians. If we want to save the Western Church we need to find ways to make Sunday school cool again. 

Theology that empowers the church to deal with secular authority in a biblical manner- 

It’s simply a fact that Christians are called to obey secular authorities.  However, early Christians continued to meet together (sometimes daily) despite the fact it was forbidden by “authorities” on and off for more than three centuries.  If they hadn’t the church probably would have disappeared altogether early in the first century. Leaders and individual Christians need to do some soul searching and decide what sort of edict is worthy of violating the command to “gather together” before the next round of shutdowns. 

An openness to a movement of the Spirit of God- 

Sadly, there are two equally stupid views of the Holy Spirit that have prevailed in most denominations over the last century. On one end of the spectrum there is a history of gross excess. This group has taken 1st Thessalonians 5:19“Do not quench the Spirit” to mean that almost anything done in the name of the Holy Spirit goes with or without any biblical precedent. Period. This has been a huge turnoff for those on the other end of the spectrum who have declared anything they see as out of the ordinary (speaking in tongues, raising hands in worship, prophetic utterances) as evil and “of the devil” even if that thing has biblical precedent. Both attitudes are wrong, Truth lies in the middle. It is not our job to manufacture the work of the Spirit in the name of “having an experience”. Neither is it our job to dictate to God how He can or cannot work. Our job is to seek the Spirit with an open heart asking Him to reveal more of Himself and His truth to us. However, we also need to understand that any genuine work of the Holy Spirit will be accompanied with a greater desire to obey God. The God of the universe doesn’t do anything without the purpose of bringing about transformation. 

A return to community based church- 

We are made in the image of a relational God (Genesis 1:26). We need each other. Period. Churches have to figure out how to create authentic faith communities in the midst of twenty-first century busyness. If we don’t the church will continue to lose people. 

It is the churches responsibility to be ready to offer hope, help and healing when the worst happens. Most churches weren’t ready for any of that with COVID. Welcoming a movement of God, building community in the church and being prepared to answer  tough theological questions is how we get ready for whatever comes next. 

Why we all Need to get our Butts Back in the Church Building-

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.  – Acts 2:42 NIV 

According to Pew Research Center as of March 2021 almost half (forty-three percent) of church members have yet to return to in-person church services. A forty-three percent loss of almost anything is at best unsustainable. At worst such a loss could prove fatal. 

Think about it. 

If a family were to suddenly lose forty-three percent of their savings, the loss would create untold chaos in their financial future. If a nation were to lose forty-three percent of their population the nation would inevitably become weak, ineffectual and find themselves at the mercy of their enemies. The church is no different. A forty-three percent loss of regular attenders is no small deal. 

I totally get that there are some individuals who cannot or should not go back to in-service church attendance at this time.

For the record; 

Elderly folks unable or unwilling to get the COVID vaccine, get a pass on returning to in-person services. The immune compromised, or parents with an immune compromised child are also exempt from returning to in-person services at this time. Those with serious comorbidities who cannot or do not wish to take the vaccine, get a pass on resuming in-person church attendance at least for now. 

Everyone else needs to get their butts back in the church building. 

Pronto. 

Here’s why:

It’s not necessarily going to be smooth sailing from here- 

I do not fancy myself a prophet. That said, the culture has taken a turn for the worse and every fiber of my being tells me that the shaking God has given our world over the course of the last fifteen months is not even close to being over (Hebrews 12:25-27). God will continue to shake our world until people respond to Him in repentance (Revelation 9:20). What the shaking will look like and where it will end are questions far above my meager paygrade.  Nonetheless, it’s not over. More trouble and hardship is coming and the body of Christ will likely not be exempt from the trouble (1st Peter 4:17). If I’m right Christians will need the encouragement and connection they can only get from the body of Christ in order to continue their growth as believers (Hebrews 3:13, Hebrews 10:24-26) When Christians fail to grow spiritually they run the risk their faith will die a slow and painful death that could end in apostasy (Hebrews 6:1-9, Matthew 24:9-11).  Church community is critical because it prevents apostasy.  

The church needs all hands-on deck to accomplish the mission of the Church- 

The mission of the church is clear (Matthew 28:18-19). The church is to proclaim the gospel and make disciples. To accomplish this end church leaders are commanded to teach and train all believers to live out the truth of the gospel so they can reach their unsaved friends and family with the gospel (Ephesians 4:10-12). This task is massive. It demands the whole-body work together to accomplish the mission (Romans 12:4-6, 1st Corinthians 12:17). If one person stays home or refuses to do their part a ball gets dropped that ensures the whole body is less effective than they could have been. 

Christians need the church to stay anchored and spiritually healthy-

Without a solid church to anchor a person to the faith individual believers either drift away from Christianity altogether or they begin to adopt strange theories and attitudes regarding God and Scripture. Strange beliefs make it very difficult to reach others with the gospel. These things happen without the person even realizing they are happening. Regular community involvement in a local church is the only way to prevent drift from taking place and eccentric beliefs from taking root. 

There are some things you cannot experience while watching a screen- 

Online attendance has its limits. It is possible to get the essence of a sermon from an online format. That said, it is impossible to experience unity and connection with other believers alone in your living room. It is also impossible to experience the knitting together of the body that takes place when the whole church worships their God in one accord (Acts 2:42-47, Revelation 7:9-10). It is also impossible to effectively use one’s individual gifts to grow the body of Christ while isolated from the body of Christ. We need each other for all these things.  

This pandemic is winding down- 

An estimated thirty percent of the population has recovered from COVID-19 and has natural immunity, another fifty percent of the population has had at least one COVID vaccination. This is a clear indicator it is time for God’s people to ditch their fear and get back to the business of living hard for Jesus.  

The bottom-line in all this is that we go to church because God tells us to and it is the pattern we see throughout the entire Bible. We cannot say we love God and refuse to do what He says (John 14:15, 1st John 5:2, Hebrews 10:25) at least not without experiencing dire consequences. In this case consequences could include a slow separation from God that gives the devil a foothold in our lives and place for sin and even apostasy to take root. Nobody who really knows Jesus wants that. In order to prevent it we all need to get our butts back into the church building. 

Now.  

Why the Average Christian Should Care About the Argument Between Andy Stanley and John MacArthur-

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith– 2nd Corinthians 13:5a NKJV

There is a vast difference of ideology emerging within the ranks of Christianity. The ethical dispute basically boils down to whether or not it is acceptable for churches to defy government authorities to meet corporately for worship and teaching. COVID-19 is the catalyst that spurred this debate forward.  

 There is a celebrity pastor squarely on either side of the ever-widening divide. On one side is Andy Stanley who believes Christians set a terrible example when Churches meet in spite of health risks and it’s a violation of biblical teaching for Churches to meet without state approval. On the other side is John MacArthur who believes it is violation of the Constitution for the government to tell churches what they can and can’t do when it comes to worship period, but especially in light of COVID-19’s low death rate. 

Both John MacArthur and Andy Stanley have put feet to their faith and stood firmly on their personal convictions. Andy Stanly announced in June his church will not meet in-person until sometime in 2021.  John MacArthur has defied state restrictions and has been heavily fined by the state of California.  

Every Christian has an opinion on this issue. 

Those on the MacArthur side of the divide tend to believe the Constitution is on their side, the virus is not deadly to most people and can be managed with smart sanitation procedures. Therefore, churches should be open.  Stanley’s side points out it is illegal for churches to meet in some places, Coronavirus does kill some individuals and Christians ought to care about the health and welfare of others. 

 It is critical Christians think biblically concerning this issue.

A new standard has been set in the age of COVID-19. Governments worldwide have concluded sickness is not to be tolerated, any death from this virus is unacceptable. Furthermore, many bureaucrats refuse to allow adults to decide for themselves if they want to risk infection to attend church. This means there will certainly be more church closures when a new wave of Coronavirus hits or the next time a new (novel) virus comes on the scene. Moreover, as governments become more hostile to Christianity it becomes increasingly likely churches will be closed for reasons that have nothing at all to do with public health. 

 Those who feel the state should stay out of church affairs use the Constitution as their guiding light. The First Amendment is clear: Christians have a right to practice their religion. There are no qualifiers. It is left up to churches and Christians in America to decide where, when and how they worship God. Period.  That being said, human documents should never be our go-to for answers about life, church or church attendance. Human laws change, human documents turn to dust. Consequently, no human document is on the same level as biblical teaching on this or any other subject. 

Those who oppose churches meeting indoors at this time inevitably turn to Romans 13:1-7 and 1st Peter 2:13-17.  Both texts are clear: Christians are to be subject to human authorities. In both passages Christians are told unequivocally that God Himself establishes all human authority. Those texts cannot be ignored. Christians are clearly not permitted to break the laws of man willy-nilly. Choosing to do so, is a serious sin.

But, do these texts apply to holding church services?

The context of certain biblical passages is key to this debate. Most of the New Testament was written to men and women who were undergoing extreme persecution (Acts 5:17-32, Acts 7:54-60, Acts 11:19, 2nd Corinthians 12:10, 2nd Thessalonians 1:4, Hebrews 10:33, Revelation 2:10). Many, if not most, early Christians were forbidden from attending church meetings at one point or another. However, the Bible assumes Christians will meet and even commands Christians to meet, in spite of laws that forbade them from doing so. The book of Hebrews was written to Christians who were experiencing persecution from the Roman government AND local Jewish authorities.  Many of their own people died horrible deaths as a result of their faithfulness to Jesus (Hebrews 11:36-40). In spite of those realities the author of Hebrews gives the clearest command in all of the New Testament concerning church attendance (Hebrews 10:24-25).  

Furthermore.

 1st and 2nd Peter were written near the end of Nero’s reign. Christianity was banned and the penalty for declaring Jesus to be Lord was certain death. Christians were not allowed to hold meetings.  Furthermore, very few first century Christians were literate.  Books (scrolls) were prohibitively expensive and printing presses and the internet did not exist. There was literally no way to broadly disseminate information without in-person meetings. The Apostle Peter wrote his letters to people he knew would never hear his words UNLESS they broke the law to attend a church meeting.

And yet.

It is critical we remember Romans 13 and 1st Peter 2:13-17 provide ironclad proof that God is most concerned with the heart attitudes of His people. God does not want Christians to take a casual attitude toward the laws of man or the health of others. Christians who choose to meet in order to make a political point or because the Constitution says they can, are meeting for all the wrong reasons. They would be better off from a spiritual and moral standpoint to just stay home.  The Bible is clear: Christians should not break the law concerning church services as a first resort, every other avenue must be explored first.

I tend to fall on the John MacArthur side of the divide. Although with a huge caveat: his heart must be in the right place as he takes this stand (only God and John MacArthur know the state of John MacArthur’s heart). If Mr. MacArthur is defying the government out of fear, to make a point, garner attention or demand his “rights”. His stand is wrong and it will be revealed as a “dead work” on judgment day (1st Corinthians 3:11-13).

 Period.  

Finding Joy in the Upside-down World of Coronavirus –

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance– James 1:2-3

 Last week, I was asked how Christians can live a life of authentic joy in the midst of the “new normal”. The person asking was not some unenlightened heathen nub, nor were they looking for an emotional short-cut out of the pain that is the prevailing feeling of 2020. This person is mature enough to know joy is not the same thing as happiness in the sense that it not something we can manufacture within ourselves or acquire from outside activities. They just felt, as so many of us do, that their capacity to experience joy has been challenged by our current political, spiritual, and moral climate.

 I had no words.

 Seriously. I have never faced a global pandemic or race riots or a government power grab or this level of social instability. So, I prayed. Hard. Over the course of the next few days I was overcome with the conviction that we lack joy when we look for it in the wrong places. Joy is not is something that grows out of serene conditions or easy circumstances. Joy grows out of love for God AND acceptance of His will. Whatever that may be. Following are some practices that increase joy if we are willing to make the effort they require.

 First, we must:

Stop being gross-

 A wise woman I know made a casual observation this week about how gross contemporary Christians can be. Her words hit hard. Many Christians are kind of gross, and I am no exception. Some have literally expressed gratitude “for the break from church” in recent months (Hebrews 10:25).  Others shy away from doing anything even remotely hard (Galatians 6:9). Most are guilty of viewing the God of the universe as their own private blessing machine. Too many pray trivial prayers requesting material blessings rather than pleading for moral and spiritual transformation. Then when God does attempt to produce change in our lives we run as fast and hard as we can from the pain that inevitably accompanies growth. We become gross by permitting wrong beliefs about God and the role He is to play in our lives to fester and grow. We become less “gross” and more joyful when we choose to cooperate with God rather than fighting the methods He has chosen to make us better, healthier, more Christlike people (1st Corinthians 3:18, Philippians 4:11-13).

  Learn to welcome the interruptions God ordains-

 About six weeks into the Coronavirus pandemic I had an ugly public meltdown. I have too much personal pride to share the unpleasant details of that event at this time. Needless to say, it was not pretty. As I was sorting through the “why” of my behavior, it dawned on me that more than anything I loathed the interruption coronavirus had brought to my sweet little life (Job 17:11, Psalm 33:10). That insight got me to the place where I accepted that Coronavirus and all the nuttiness that goes with it is just what we get to do right now. I don’t have to like any of it. Nor, do I have to go along with all of it. However, I must accept it if I want to stay sane and experience joy. Interruptions, whether they be an unexpected phone call, an unplanned pregnancy, a cross-country move, or a global pandemic are not really interruptions. They are God’s plan (Psalm 40:10). We have two choices when God’s plan differs from ours: we can lean in and figure out how God wants to change us and use us or we can fight Him (Proverbs 19:21). The first choice yields personal growth, unanticipated blessings and genuine joy. The second brings despair, resentment and stunted spiritual growth. Welcoming interruption does not mean we cannot or should not fight injustice or work for needed change. It does mean our personal happiness can’t depend entirely on having life the way we want it. 

 Pray like you’ve never prayed before-

 Nothing produces joy and emboldens faith like answered prayer. In my experience God loves to answer bold prayers that focus on the spiritual needs of others. There is no shortage of needs in this world we can pray for right now.

 Recapture time and give it to God-

  I borrowed this idea from Mark Sayers, Pastor of Red Church in Melbourne, Australia. He suggests Christians recapture time spent on random activities such as watching television and goofing around on our phones and give that time back to God in the form of prayer and Bible study.  This works because joy grows out of intimacy with God and intimacy grows out of time spent seeking God. This concept became a game changer in my life shortly after my COVID meltdown. I took an hour a day I’d been spending on my phone and began using that time to pray. That hour transformed my attitude, restored joy and undoubtedly saved the world from further ugly meltdowns.    

 Finally, and most critically, Christians must become people who seek to impart hope to others. Hope is what the world most needs right now and it is the thing Christians have to give the world (Romans 5:3-5). When we share the hope of Jesus with others it causes our own joy to grow. In order to be an agent of hope our own hope has to be in the right thing.  If our hope rides on “everything going back to normal” we are hoping for the wrong thing. Furthermore, we will likely be disappointed and we will never become the change agents God intends us to be.

 

 

Could God be Attempting to Correct Us?

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account- Hebrews 4:13 NIV

Coronavirus is generating tremendous chaos throughout the world. Not since God put the kibosh on the Babel building project have so many individuals been so greatly affected by a singular event (Genesis 11:1-11).

People are anxious and going to pieces in ways rarely seen in our modern age.  Full-grown adults are fighting over toilet paper and tuna fish with no outward indications of shame. People are openly aggressive towards anyone who sniffles in a public place.  An Arizona man died from ingesting fish tank cleaner because he believed it would protect him from Coronavirus. Economists warn of impending doom if economies don’t return to some semblance of normal soon and yet some leaders are advocating quarantine orders be enforced for six months to a year. 

Some of the fear connected to Coronavirus is reasonable and even wise. Coronavirus is dangerous to the elderly and those with underlying health problems, it is also highly contagious. Large groups of people get it all at once and it overwhelms healthcare systems. That being said, some of the fear is clearly out of bounds with the level of danger. There are seven-billion people on earth, 33,841 people have died from Coronavirus. That number is relatively small in comparison to the world population. Please don’t misunderstand, none of the people who died from this awful virus were insignificant or unimportant. They were all real people with stories, each was loved by someone and all were image-bearers of God. The loss of an image bearer is always a tragic event. That said, it could be argued that locking down the whole world indefinitely over the Coronavirus threat is a form of insanity that should be closely examined. 

So, a couple of things: 

Coronavirus could have been contained if the political will had existed when the virus first emerged. With few exceptions world leaders simply ignored the problem. The few who did act to contain the threat were condemned as bigots. Additionally, each of the nations (and regions) hit hardest by the virus displayed a high level of foolishness concerning the virus. Washington state (where I live) is a hub for air travel to China and yet little attention was paid to the virus until it started killing large numbers of people. Italy caved to political correctness and sponsored “hug a Chinese person” events even after it was clear the virus was being spread from Chinese tourists.  New York gave into greed and refused to cancel parades even when it was clear the virus was a looming problem (Isaiah 57:17, Luke 12:15). Iran refused help from other nations even when it was painfully clear they needed it to contain the virus (Proverbs 16:18). 

It is simply a fact that wisdom, common sense and good judgment are indicators God’s Spirit is present in the life of individuals, leaders and nations (Proverbs 9:11-12, Ecclesiastes 2:26, Jeremiah 4:22).  Conversely, willful foolishness is a clear sign a person, leader or nation has no fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:7).

 Now that world leaders have finally decided to take this virus seriously, the whole world is in a mad panic to stop it using any method deemed necessary, even if it destroys lives and brings about abject poverty and suffering.  I know Christians aren’t supposed to use the J-word anymore. Nevertheless, I feel compelled by the Spirit to point out that in the Bible confusion, fear and overreaction to circumstances is one method God uses to bring judgment on obstinate people (Jeremiah 51:34). The Israelites were promised that if they persistently rebelled against God they would be afflicted with “madness and confusion of mind” (Deuteronomy 28:20). There are many instances in the Old Testament where God used confusion to defeat Israel’s enemies when they refused to turn from their sin.  (Joshua 10:9-10, Judges 6, 1st Samuel 14:20)  

This virus could very well be a corrective judgment brought on by a lack of human wisdom. Corrective judgments are warnings given in love.  God brings trouble, misery and hardship in an attempt to get people’s attention and bring them to a place of repentance and obedience (Jeremiah 15:19). In a corrective judgment God is always quick to forgive those who are eager to repent (Psalm 103:2-4, Jeremiah 15:19. Considering the state of our world it would be strange to think God is not demanding people everywhere to turn away from the sins of pride, sexual immorality, greed, abortion and unbelief (Psalm 50:4).  

Let me be clear:

I do not believe people who get or die from Coronavirus are under God’s direct judgment. God is not singling out particular people, nations, or people groups. The whole world is being negatively affected by this calamity.  God is always slow to judge partly because the righteous and the wicked all suffer equally under judgment (Ecclesiastes 9:2, Matthew 5:45), this reality breaks the heart of God.  Christians should not despair that life is hard right now. Instead we should rejoice that we know Jesus and have a secure future in Him. Christinas should be leading the way by examining ourselves and repenting of any sins we have in our lives.  We should seek God on behalf of our world and ask Him to show mercy by bringing a spirit of repentance and revival (1st Peter 4:17).