Late 2018 my home was hit by a landslide. For weeks as I dug mud and cleaned the things that survived I wondered why. Why did God let my house get hit by a landslide? Did I do something wrong? Had my tenants done something wrong that caused God to be angry? Was it wrong to rent out my house? Is God trying to teach me something? My mind went everywhere looking for answers. It’s human nature, when something goes wrong we want to know why.
And yet God does not often answer that question. In the Bible, there is a story of one man, Job, who asked these same questions.
Job feared God and always tried to obey God’s laws. He was also prosperous. God had blessed him with seven sons and three daughters. He owned thousands of sheep and livestock, and employed servants to care for them all. He was the wealthiest, most respected man in the area. Then disaster struck. One day, raiders attacked, took all the livestock, and killed all the servants. On the same day, all of Job’s sons and daughters were eating together at the oldest brother’s house, when a strong wind caused the house to collapse. All ten of Job’s children died.
Of course, Job was devastated. He tore his clothes and lay in the dirt weeping. But his situation was about to get worse—he broke out in sores all over his body. Job cried out to God, “WHY?! Why did You ever let me be born at all to experience all this misery? Why don’t you let me die? Are you punishing me? What did I do wrong? Why are you doing this to me?”
Then God speaks to Job, not to explain why all of this happened, but to remind him, “I am GOD. I created everything and the whole world is mine. I am the Almighty. I am just and powerful. I don’t make mistakes” (see Job chapters 38-42).
In the end, God wants Job—and us—to find hope in who He is, not in knowing why things happen.
Today as we face COVID-19 we are similarly tempted to wonder why – why has this happened. Why has God caused it or allowed it? Is this the end times? Has God poured out his wrath on the whole world (or the West)? And in reality we don’t really know why. You can find different people with different theories. But rarely in the Bible does God explain His actions. Sometimes, we can see how it was used by God for a good purpose. But at the time God didn’t explain. Think about King David. First the prophet Samuel came to his house when he was still young and anointed David to be king. Then David killed Goliath. Then he was a musician for Saul. Then suddenly Saul decided that he wanted to kill David, and David spent years hiding in the desert avoiding Saul. I am sure many times David wondered why. Why did this happen? Why couldn’t Saul just have a heart attack and David become King? But that wasn’t God’s way.
In the book of Acts the apostles faced many trials. Numerous times they were beaten or put into jail. Now jails weren’t very nice at those times – more like a dungeon. I am sure while they were sitting there they were tempted to wonder why God didn’t save them or rescue them before they ended up in jail. Why didn’t God keep them from being beaten? But God never reveals why.
Today we don’t know for certain why God has allowed COVID-19 and why He hasn’t already stopped it. But we do know a few things for sure. Instead of looking for answers why, let’s remember these things:
- God works all things together for good (Romans 8:28). We don’t know why, but we do know that God will bring good out of this.
- We should fast, pray and humble ourselves if we want to see the healing of our nations (2 Chronicles 7:14). God has given us a method to see our nations healed. Let’s pray and fast and ask God to forgive us and heal our land.
- Nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:35-39). God has not stopped loving us, we are not alone.
- God is with us; He will help us and strengthen us. “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).
