God is in Control--But Don't Put Him to the Test!
This is Day 17 of my 40 day Lenten Blog.
God is in control of everything. Jesus tells us that not even a tiny sparrow "will fall to the ground outside of your Father's care." (Matt. 10:29). He's got this. Everything that happens is either done by God or allowed by God.
It is good to remember this when things seem to be spiraling out of control. Yes, things may be out of man's control, but not God's. We can't always understand why God does the things He does anymore than Job did, but we should feel secure that everything is in His control. Even the Coronavirus.
While that knowledge should give us peace during this scary time, it should not make us over-confident. Let us not slip from trusting in God to putting Him to the test for Jesus also said "do not put the Lord your God to the test." (Luke 4:12).
Would you test God by playing with poisonous snakes or swimming with hungry sharks or playing Russian roulette? I sure hope not. Let us also not put God to the test by going into public unnecessarily during this crisis. Yes we still have our lives to live and if you have to go to work or the grocery store (or wherever else) you have to go. But stay home as much as you can.
But you might protest that two thousand years ago Christians did not stay home during plagues. Instead they went out to minister to the sick and to bury the dead. Are you going out to minister to the sick or bury the dead? Today we have hospitals. Today we have medical professionals. If you are a doctor or nurse or some other emergency worker or healthcare professional then you absolutely should go and minister to the sick. But the rest of us who are not doing that may cause more harm than good if we go out. By coming into contact with other people we are helping spread the virus which means more people will get it faster, overwhelming our healthcare system. Again, we all have things we have to do, but we should limit our exposure to the public as much as possible. Two thousand years ago the Christian thing to do was to go out and help the sick. Today the Christian thing to do, is stay away as much as possible so as not to spread this virus and overwhelm those who are trained to care for the sick. Do not confuse demonstrating your faith with testing God.
Yes God is in control, but do not put Him to the test.
R.C. VanLandingham is the author of the Christian fantasy novel Peter Puckett & The Amulet of Eternity. He lives in Florida with his beautiful wife and three wonderful boys.