The Question We Are Afraid to Ask

I bet everybody has certain questions on their minds right now in regard to the coronavirus crisis. What started it? Why did this happen? How long will it last? How many people will die? Will the economy recover? The entire world is at war with a teensy weensy little virus. No atomic bombs necessary! Did it come from the horseshoe bat? Who put it in the bat?

But the question people really want the answer to is the one they are afraid to ask: Did God send this virus? Is he judging the world because we have all turned away from him? We are afraid to ask these questions in part because we don't want to hear the answer and in part because anybody who brings God into the discussion is branded as a fanatic or religious weirdo. 

There are people who don't believe in God at all so they will be content with whatever science tells them. And among those who do profess a belief in God, there are those who do not believe he takes a personal interest in the world or they think that he would never do this kind of thing to humanity. But all you have to do is read the Bible to be disabused of that idea. God destroyed the whole world with a flood. God brought the ten plagues on the land of Egypt. And do I even have to mention the Apocalypse in Revelation? 

Let's assume that God is giving all of us a warning. Even that is an example of his outrageous grace. He could just let us go on in our wanderings and eventually face the reality of hell. But in his mercy, he warns and disciplines us and draws us back to himself. And he has given us an entire book to show us the way back during a national emergency--the book of Joel. 

Joel is only 3 chapters long, but he really nails it. We don't know for sure when it was written but most probably after the Babylonian exile. Judah had already been destroyed by plagues and war and famine. The temple had been destroyed, families had been separated or slain. Swarms of locusts (or armies) decimated every hope of survival. People were living in utter fear and helplessness. 

In chapter 1, Joel describes the utter devastation of the land in horrid detail using the metaphor of four kinds of devouring locusts, and he puts out a call for a holy fast and prayer and lamentation. Joel chapter 2 is my absolute favorite chapter in the Bible because of 2 words: Even now. Verse 12 says, "Even now", declares the Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning." 

Even now. Even though all this devastation has already taken place. Even though you think it is too late. Even though you think your sins are too great to be forgiven. Even though you are in a foreign place with no hope of ever getting back home. Even now. Even now--all God wants is your heart. See why I love this chapter in Joel? And it gets even better! In verse 25 of chapter 2 God promises to repay them for all the years the locusts have eaten. He will restore everything in his time.

Don't be afraid to ask the hard questions. Sometimes we don't know why we suffer, but when we suffer the first thing we should do is bring God into it. Make sure our priorities are in order. You don't have to worry that God is punishing you for some sin that you don't know about. If he is disciplining you for sin, he will let you know exactly what sin it is so you can repent! He doesn't play guessing games with us when it comes to sin. 

Did God send the coronavirus? Of course he did. That little rascal didn't slip out of his hands and run amuck on its own.  Yet to say that God sent it is outrageous. It's scandalous! ...It's grace. Grace that calls us back to his heart. Grace that leads us home.