Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men. (NIV)
I would like to welcome all of you to a world where all of us “little people” are trying to understand a Creator Who is infinite in His love and His grandeur. It is His world and you are His creation whether you choose to believe in Him for your salvation or not. The blessings that God gives to us every day in this life sometimes come with a problem or an affliction attached to them. But, God is allowing that because He wants to make you better than you were and to give you a witness to others so they will seek Him in their time of trouble.
“God permits what he hates to accomplish what he loves.” — Joni
Life brings many opportunities for us in the church or for those outside the church. Sometimes those opportunities are good and some are not good at all, at least from our point of view. As Christians, we should try to look at the bigger picture that God sees but for our finite minds, it is hard to do that in every situation. In the past year, many millions of people have lost loved ones to this health crisis regardless of the name given to the disease or which variant it may be that is causing it.
My point is that God knows exactly where each of us is in our lives and what His purpose for us is as well. Some of us will be teachers, some of us will be caregivers and some of us will be friends to those in need of one. Jesus told His disciples that this time would come and that many people would fall away from their faith. Many are doing that because they are blaming God for this “pandemic” and while God did allow this to happen, I don’t believe that He created it. He is allowing it to happen so that people will turn to Him during this crisis. Some will turn to Him for comfort and I hope for their salvation too.
What is my point in this post? It is that God is in control regardless of how you perceive Him from your perspective. If you think of Him as a tyrant that is trying to force you to believe in Jesus then you’ve got Him all wrong. God loves you and He is using this time in history to bring as many people to salvation as possible but salvation and love cannot be forced on anyone. God will use the death of a loved one to bring about His purposes. We can’t understand that in our finite minds but God can see how one person’s death in a family will affect the entire family and the community around them. It may not happen overnight but God’s purpose and His will for everyone in that community will be realized.
God gives joy to those who have lost loved ones because of the faith of the person who died. They may be gone from this life and we won’t see them again until we are in the next life but we will have an eternity to enjoy them and all of the good things that God has prepared for us as His adopted children through Jesus Christ.
The Living Message of Christ 