These
are uncertain, frightening times for you and for me and for our families and friends.
Thousands of people have died in our nation and around the world, and many
thousands more will die in coming days and weeks, all because of the
coronavirus pandemic.
And
here’s a startling development: Health officials have discovered that a tiger
in the Bronx Zoo has tested positive for coronavirus. Several other tigers and lions are showing
the same symptoms.
That
raises alarming questions:
Does
that mean the coronavirus will spread to other animals—cattle, chickens, pigs,
and fish? If so, what will that do to our food supplies?
Could
our pets catch the virus from other people’s pets? Could sick humans infect their
pets? Could we catch coronavirus from our cats and dogs?
Talk
about uncertainty!
At
this time, when our thoughts dart wildly in every direction, when our hearts
race and we fear what we and our loved ones are facing in coming days, it’s good
to remember God’s role in our lives. We need to remember we can trust in His
presence and His sovereignty in our lives.
Psalm
139 is a rich resource for you.
It
reminds you that God Himself knit you together in your mother’s womb (verse 13).
He made every part of you with His loving care:
“You
were there while I was being formed
in
utter seclusion.
You
saw me before I was born
and
scheduled every day of my life
before
I began to breathe.
Every
day was recorded in your Book!”
(Psalm
139: 13-16, TLB)
The
NIV Study Bible says that Book is “the heavenly royal register of God’s
decisions.”
That
reminds me of what God says in Jeremiah 29:11, “I know the plans I have for you.”
Pastor Ray Noah writes, “God is so involved in my life that he was even there at the
moment my mother and father conceived me in love, and while I was in the womb,
he superintended even the most infinitesimal details of my physiological and
temperamental formation.”
Ray says, “I find great comfort and security in knowing that God has my life so
ordered that I will neither die a day sooner nor live a day longer than what
has already been recorded in his book.” (Click here to read Ray’s encouraging
post, “Psalm 139: My Days Are Numbered.”)
Experts
predict that in the coming week or two,
death
tolls will rise dramatically.
But
let’s be honest.
Despite
the passages in the Bible
and
reassurances from pastors, the big question,
the elephant in the room is this:
Each
of us wonders: Will the coronavirus kill
me?
My
loved ones? My friends?
I
worry about those of us in North America, but I also worry a great deal about my
dear friends in Kenya. (Click here to read Urgent prayer for Kenyans during the coronavirus pandemic. Click here to read Please pray for Ugandans’ desperate needs during coronavirus pandemic.)
Ray Noah reminds us that according to Psalm 139, God “can be completely trusted to
keep me safe until the Divinely allotted number of days ordained have expired
and then take me to the next life that he has prepared for me.”
I
hope that gives you peace. I hope that encourages you to relax in God’s loving arms,
knowing He has good plans and, whether sooner or later, He will eventually take
you and your loved ones Home to be with Him, a perfect place beyond what you or
I can imagine.
May
the God of hope
fill
you with all joy and peace
as
you trust in him,
so
that you may overflow with hope
by
the power of the Holy Spirit.
(Romans
15:13)
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