“For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 ESV)
As I listened to “Coronavirus and Christ” by John Piper, I was overwhelmed by the beauty of Piper’s theological framework. It will stand against any wave because it is based in Scripture—God’s literal word.
Piper puts it this way: “No man can comfort our souls in this pandemic the way God can. His comfort is unshakable. It is the comfort of a great, high Rock in the stormy sea. It comes from his word, the Bible.”
Through the first couple of chapters, the author helps us ask ourselves, “Is the rock solid only in the by-and-by? Or is he involved in the here and now?” Thankfully, God answered that question in 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10: He has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.
This got me thinking. If God did not destine us for wrath, how do we make sense of Coronavirus? Do we bow to the temptation to doubt his goodness, when we are experiencing the wrath of a global pandemic? No, we must not. We have to trust he is good, even though we may not be experiencing his goodness. We must learn to be “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10).
Piper says, “The secret of ‘sorrowful, yet always rejoicing’ is this: knowing that the same sovereignty that could stop the Coronavirus, yet doesn’t, is the very sovereignty that sustains the soul in it. Indeed, more than sustains—sweetens. Sweetens with hope that God’s purposes are kind, even in death—for those who trust him.”
So, please, while you are wave-tossed and confused, know that God does not cease to be good. Lean into him and be sustained, or rather, sweetened, through the storm.
Eddie Pullen is an IBSA director of church planting.