Article
Coronavirus and humility
March 30, 2020
"And He humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger,...that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live." (Deut. 8:3)
I have been amazed in the past few years by how busy life has become. Often weeks go by amazingly fast, and those weeks turn into years as people marry, plant, sow, build, eat and drink. In a world of shopping malls, March Madness, Olympics, boutiques, basketball tournaments, field trips, and restaurants, we are easily distracted from what is most important.
Everyone's life has been affected in recent days. I drove by restaurants that a few days ago were bustling to find that today their parking lots are empty. Ball tournaments have been canceled. Graduation plans have been changed. Church conferences have been canceled. Wedding dates have been postponed. I have sat in my classroom in sadness, looking at empty desks where my students have spent hundreds of hours laughing, learning, and even grumbling a few times. On a Friday, they were there. On Monday, their supplies were taken home, and I was left with a lump in my throat. We did not have a minute to spare, because Covid-19 had invaded!
Could it be in the midst of all of this turmoil we have seen a severe measure of the mercy of God? God has cleared our schedules and our calendars by showing us that He is the One who is really in control. He could cause this world to come to a screeching halt quickly if He were to choose. God is intervening in our lives to get our attention. He loves us. Christ wants us to be right with Him. He is willing for us to taste a little pain in this process of humbling the inhabitants of the earth to become focused on His calendar and His schedule.
Mainly His concern is that in our hearts and by our lives, we acknowledge Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords. His schedule includes valuing eternal things. He tells us that as we surrender to Him, He will guide our footsteps and that our thoughts and intentions of our hearts can be those that matter for eternity.
I have been learning that as the Lord humbled His people by allowing them to suffer that He wants us to see that we are dependent on Him. I felt the Lord speak to my heart that I have depended on events instead of on the reason we are having the event. I have depended on others to fulfill me when only Jesus can fulfill the longings in our hearts. We can all depend on accomplishing so much work that we will feel good about ourselves. The Lord impressed on my mind the song "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" when I felt that I was spending too much time comparing myself to others on Instagram. When we look at Jesus, we are not as concerned about the next activity to make us happy.
It could do us good to check the activities with which we pack our lives. Keeping up with clothing blogs can become an idol. Technology as well can so easily distract us from the presence of God or from feeling conviction. There have been times in my life that God has withdrawn even godly people from my life to keep me from setting my hope in them. When you live without some things, you understand the song, "I need Thee. Oh, I need Thee." Through all of this may we all learn to lean on Jesus wholly. Just like the children of Israel learned to depend on God daily for manna, may we seek Him moment by moment for the spiritual bread that is incomparable.
When all this is over, I pray that we will not go back to "Normal." I pray that God will imprint a hunger in our lives that whether we can leave our homes or not, we would desire Him above all else. May He be our chief joy whether or not we have jobs and whether or not we even have the privilege to go to church. What Christ has for us is so much greater than the trivial things that this life offers us. God often speaks to us in times when everything is silent and quiet in our lives. His love breaks into our isolation. He proves He is enough to match this hour.
He has humbled us to do without what we thought were necessities. It is His mercy that has led us against our own choices to do without our usual busy schedules. The antidote for all of this is found In II Chronicles 7:14 in four unfailing steps. "Humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways." His humbling teaches us to watch for His coming.
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