As a person born in the United States having immigrated to Australia, I have been intrigued by the contrasting perspectives generally reflected in people and media. The press in the U.S. have been throwing around terms like "tyranny" and "totalitarianism" while the Australian media muses why only 4 million people have voluntarily downloaded an app designed to track movements. While people in California protest their right to assemble under the Constitution, a vast majority of Sydney-siders are making do best they can to respect restrictions, considering protection of the most vulnerable more important than personal freedoms. In our polarised world one extreme sees a trojan horse of government oppression, while the other sees it as a necessity for public health.
This is where the supremacy and sovereignty of God is a great comfort to me: no matter where a person lives or what their perspective is on social matters, what constitutes government overreach, or when schools should open, God rules over all. He is wise, compassionate, gracious, and faithful. His power and authority extends far beyond our spinning globe, for this is how the sons of Korah could honestly write in Psalm 46:1-3: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 3 though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah" When it feels like the earth has been snatched from under your feet, God is a refuge, strength, and very present help when help seems far away.
When the disciples were caught in a storm on the Sea of Galilee and Jesus was asleep, they woke Jesus in a panic. Many of these followers of Jesus were seasoned veterans on the water, and the peril they faced was very real. They were shocked when Jesus rose and rebuked the wind and water and it ceased raging. It seems they expected Jesus to approach the problem at hand like they were, to grab and oar, start bailing out water from their vessel--to express concern over a situation He was literally sleeping through. This shows me how the power of God transcends this physical world where God remains in total charge, regardless of governments, corporations, panic, and mis-information. As the story of Job's life reveals, nothing happens outside God's knowledge and control, and we are wise to submit ourselves in faith to Him.
The disciples wanted Jesus to respond to their situation like they were feeling; they wanted Him to realise the urgency of their need and predicament. Since sin entered the world and until all that is made dissolves in final judgment, this has been and will continue to be a desire familiar to all people who love God and trust Him. COVID-19 might be a storm of sorts which God will employ to expose our lack of faith and need to seek the LORD. Are you willing for Jesus to redeem this trying situation in a miraculous manner which glorifies Him? David wrote in Psalm 27:13-14, "I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 14 Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!" Don't just wait for social distancing to be over, for the storm to pass, a payment to come through, or for circumstances to change for the better: wait on the LORD, be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart. We will see the goodness of of the LORD in the land of the living when we look to Jesus.
This is where the supremacy and sovereignty of God is a great comfort to me: no matter where a person lives or what their perspective is on social matters, what constitutes government overreach, or when schools should open, God rules over all. He is wise, compassionate, gracious, and faithful. His power and authority extends far beyond our spinning globe, for this is how the sons of Korah could honestly write in Psalm 46:1-3: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 3 though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah" When it feels like the earth has been snatched from under your feet, God is a refuge, strength, and very present help when help seems far away.
When the disciples were caught in a storm on the Sea of Galilee and Jesus was asleep, they woke Jesus in a panic. Many of these followers of Jesus were seasoned veterans on the water, and the peril they faced was very real. They were shocked when Jesus rose and rebuked the wind and water and it ceased raging. It seems they expected Jesus to approach the problem at hand like they were, to grab and oar, start bailing out water from their vessel--to express concern over a situation He was literally sleeping through. This shows me how the power of God transcends this physical world where God remains in total charge, regardless of governments, corporations, panic, and mis-information. As the story of Job's life reveals, nothing happens outside God's knowledge and control, and we are wise to submit ourselves in faith to Him.
The disciples wanted Jesus to respond to their situation like they were feeling; they wanted Him to realise the urgency of their need and predicament. Since sin entered the world and until all that is made dissolves in final judgment, this has been and will continue to be a desire familiar to all people who love God and trust Him. COVID-19 might be a storm of sorts which God will employ to expose our lack of faith and need to seek the LORD. Are you willing for Jesus to redeem this trying situation in a miraculous manner which glorifies Him? David wrote in Psalm 27:13-14, "I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 14 Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!" Don't just wait for social distancing to be over, for the storm to pass, a payment to come through, or for circumstances to change for the better: wait on the LORD, be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart. We will see the goodness of of the LORD in the land of the living when we look to Jesus.
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