Has anything ever happened in life, either directly to you or to the world, and you sat around thinking, why did this happen? I ask that question knowing fully that this is currently a time when people are doing that. In my opinion, one of the saddest ways people live is thinking that everything happens by accident or coincidence. They don’t see anything as pre-determined. I believe that living like that is sad, because it devalues the meaning of life and our experiences. It reduces everything to chance. I choose to live and look through a different set of lenses. I look at things through the Bible. This changes my perspective. Instead of believing everything is random, I see a loving, gracious God behind what is happening. Does this mean that God does or causes these acts of evil or suffering? I’m not going to go down that road in this post, because that is a long, winding road. But I will say this, I have the utmost confidence in God to be faithful to His Word. In Romans 8:28 it says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” This post isn’t about that verse, but I think it is important that we, especially God’s children, examine what is happening around us from God’s perspective.
In our text for the day, Solomon has prayed to dedicate the Temple that was built in Jerusalem. Specifically in our text, Solomon is now standing and blessing the people who had come to the Temple dedication. In this blessing, Solomon answers not only what the importance of the Temple in his day way, but I believe he also answers the “why” of the events of today. 1 Kings 8:60 says, “That all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other.” As I have written on this blog before, COVID-19 is striking at the heart of many of America’s idols. The things that we have looked to, trusted in, or turned to in order to escape the pressures of life. Those things have been taken away from us, at least for the time being. Yet, faithful to His Word, God is still with us. Despite not having a vaccine or a truly effective treatment for COVID-19, the number of cases is slowing, hospitalizations are declining, and the death rate is slowing as well. Why? Because God is moving us through this season, and in His time, we will be in the next season. What will that season be like? I have no idea. But one day, we are going to look back at this time in our nation’s history, and we are going to realize that difficult times don’t last forever. What if this season resulted in many who were far away from God actually were saved by God’s grace? Would we think it is worth it? I’m not trying to minimize the difficulties we have experienced in this season, or ignore the suffering that is occurring. I’m trying to look at this not from my limited perspective, but from God’s eternal perspective. And when I try to see things from God’s perspective, a few things become very clear for me.
- God is still gracious and merciful. As bad as things have been, they could have been so much worse. Think back to just a few weeks ago, we were told to prepare for 200,000+ deaths in the United States. Yet, we have not seen anywhere near that number. There were politicians and pundits saying that the quarantines could last into August or September. Yet, several states, including the one I live in, are now talking about beginning to open back up next week. Let’s remember this, God shows us grace and mercy by not giving us what we deserve. This is never more clear than when we look to the cross, and see how Jesus took our sin and our death, and substituted His life for ours.
- Suffering is for a season. I think life is much like the seasons of nature. Sometimes, you can see new life and new blessings like springtime. Other times, we feel the heat of trials and pressure in life. Then, sometimes we feel the cool, refreshing breezes and we see change occurring that is beautiful like the leaves changing color in the fall. Then, of course there are seasons of bitterness and loneliness along with death like winter. But regardless of what season we are in, we can know that at some point that season will end, and a new season will begin. This has been a difficult season for us, we have seen loved ones become sick, we have experienced death, and we have all bore the burden in our own way of the shut down. Yet, there appears to be hope on the horizon. So, whichever season you find yourself in right now, take courage because it won’t last forever. While seasons may come and go, God remains the same.
- People need to hear the good news of the Gospel. I would argue that this is one of the biggest lessons of this season. Not to point fingers, but for too long, too many churches and Christians have left the message of the Gospel within the walls of the church building. Yet, at the end of March, everything changed. I would argue, God was forcing us as Christians to do what He had called us to do in the first place, and that is get the message of the Gospel out to those outside of and not connected to the church. The text in 1 Kings 8 challenges me to be more intentional about being evangelistic. I believe, at least right now, that people are like the Greeks who came up to Philip in John 12. They came up to Philip while Jesus was teaching one day in Jerusalem and they said to Philip, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Church, the world needs to see Jesus in us, and they need to hear about Jesus from us. On the lectern I use for Sundays and Wednesdays in church, I have a favorite quote taped down. The quote is from the Puritan preacher, Richard Baxter. It says, “I preach as never sure to preach again, and as a dying man to dying men.” We need that sense of urgency. Because long after COVID-19 is in the rearview mirror, people will still be getting sick and they will continue to die from many other causes. Will we tell them how they can be prepared?
By His grace and for His glory,
Pastor Justin