For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling men, birds, four-footed animals and reptiles.

Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts to sexual impurities so that their bodies were graded among themselves.  Romans 1:21-24 HCSB

People always like to ask, “Why do bad things happen to people?” There are those that question God. I mean after all, how could a loving God allow people to suffer and die? How could a loving God allow bad things to happen to us here on earth? Well, I’m glad you asked.

You see God created mankind to be in close fellowship with Him. He had hoped that Adam and Eve would respect His wishes and obey His commands. He had given them this beautiful garden that they did not have to weed or spray or prune. They only had to oversee it and enjoy the fruits produced by every tree except the tree of knowledge. This is what God had hoped, but he equipped Adam and Eve with this thing called free will. God did not impose His will on them, but asked that they obey His commands. They were humans and they allowed sin to creep in. They allowed their temptation to get the best of them and it had disastrous results, not only for them, but for all of the generations to follow (Genesis 3).

We all face temptation and we all have a choice to make when it comes to serving, trusting, and obeying God or to worship our manmade idols. We can take our new boat out on Sunday or try out our new golf clubs, or we can go to church. We have a choice to make.

By the time Noah came along (Genesis 6), God was fed up with mankind and their evil nature. He decided to destroy the earth by flood. Since Noah was the only righteous man, God instructed him to build the ark and put two of every animal on there along with his family so that they might be spared.

In the Old Testament, we see a pattern of God’s chosen people messing up, suffering punishment, crying out to God, God saves them, they do well for a while and then they repeat the pattern all over again.

We see disasters in the world today like hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes that effect parts of the world, but now we are seeing something that is effecting the entire world. It is effecting the global economy and is proving to be disastrous to local businesses.

Maybe God is just as fed up with us now as He was back in Noah’s day. Maybe He is trying to get our attention. I wonder what effect it will have on people? I am hearing of more people struggling to find ways to treat and cure this illness than struggling to find ways to honor God during all of this. No matter what happens, we are called to honor and glorify God. If you are putting your hope in scientists or politicians to get you through this, good luck. God tells us in Matthew 6:33 that if we seek His kingdom first, then all these things would be added unto us. Perhaps if we focus on God, He will put an end to this pandemic, you think?

In each and every story in the Bible when God brought disaster on His chosen people, those that remained faithful and glorified Him were well taken care of. Joseph, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Nehemiah, Esther and Mordecai, just to name a few, were all spared in times of disaster. They continued to praise and glorify God and God took good care of them.

While we serve a God of love, mercy, and grace, we also serve a God of justice. He will not turn a blind eye to our disobedience. He is also a God of wrath. He punishes wickedness. Perhaps that is what is happening now. I beg of you to turn to Him today, confess your sin, and repent. Turn away from evil and ask Him to heal our land (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Psalm 46:10 tells us to be still and know that He is God. Trust in Him today. Seek Him with your whole heart and put your focus on Him and Him alone. Glorify God at all times and in all situations. Trust in Him in these trying times. He is faithful. He will not let you down.

Have a great day!