Why Doesn’t God Stop the Coronavirus?

This is the question that many are asking. The coronavirus has sickened millions and killed thousands. It has shut people into their homes. It has closed businesses and churches. It has caused people with other medical needs to be neglected…

Roger Ellsworth, seasoned author of well over fifty books, has outlined some thoughts in an easy-to-read article under this title. We think it is so good, so practical and pertinent, that we are posting it online, as well as making it available as a downloadable, illustrated, printable PDF. Fold it in a tri-fold along the dotted lines, and there you have it–a little leaflet, ready to share with friends, neighbors, colleagues at work and school, or wherever there are human beings!

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Christians believe that God is unlimited in power. Yes, He could have prevented the virus from starting. Or He could have stopped it very quickly.

If God has this kind of power, it is, as far as multitudes are concerned, a no-brainer. He should have exercised this power to stop the virus in its tracks. The fact that He hasn’t done so means He has failed! That’s how many see it.

The grand assumption of those who argue this is that God should want us to go back to normal living as much as we do.
It never seems to occur to us that God may be so sick of our normal living that He has allowed this virus to occur to cause us to examine our “normal.” So instead of asking why God didn’t stop the virus, perhaps we should be asking why we don’t stop some things.

Will We Stop Neglecting the Bible?

The Bible is the most unusual book of all time. It isn’t man’s book about God. It’s God revealing the truth about Himself and about us. It tells us of our sin and of His grace and mercy in Christ. It also tells us how God wants us to live in this world. It is “a lamp” for our feet and “a light” for our path (Psalm 119:105). But just as the money we have in the bank is of no value to us if we don’t access it, so the Bible has no value to us if we don’t access it through careful reading and diligent heeding.

The Bible, the best of all books, will lead us to the best of this life and the best of the life to come if we will give it the attention it deserves. Perhaps God will use the coronavirus to cause us to seek Him in His Word as our greatest priority, and as a result, to make the words of Psalm 119:97 personal to us:

Oh, how I love Your law!
It is my meditation all the day.

Will We Stop Taking God’s Name in Vain?

A good place to start the stopping would be taking the Lord’s name in vain. Even though God has plainly forbidden us to do this, we do it day after day and moment after moment. Many seem to be unable to open their mouths without saying “Oh, my God!” Those who substitute “OMG” seem to be admitting that they know it is wrong to use God’s name lightly.

Instead of blaming God for this pandemic, we would do well to look to ourselves. Do we want the virus stopped to the extent that we are willing to stop misusing God’s name?

Will We Stop Misusing God’s Day?

And what about God’s day? I’m talking about Sunday, the Lord’s Day. Has God refused to stop this disease so we will stop treating His day as though it were our day? A good use of the Lord’s Day will cause us to give priority to public and private worship. It will cause us to turn away from our ordinary activities so we can give special attention to our spiritual needs. Most never enter God’s house at all on the Lord’s Day. Others think if they give the Lord a single hour of worship that they are free to use the rest of the day to suit themselves. Has God refused to stop the virus so we will stop our disregard for His day?

Will We Stop Trivializing Worship?

What about the way we go about worship on the Lord’s Day? We are to gather in the Lord’s house on the Lord’s Day to worship Him. God is to be our focus, but much of “worship” today seems to be more about us than about God. It seems to be more about us entertaining ourselves than it does about exalting God. We always have the tendency to think that anything we choose to do in God’s name is automatically pleasing to Him, but that is not the case. God wants us to worship Him, not in the way that pleases us, but in the way that He has directed. He is to be worshiped in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).

Will We Stop Muting the Gospel?

The gospel of Jesus Christ should always occupy center stage in our churches. What is the gospel? It is the good news of what God has done in and through His Son, Jesus, to provide forgiveness for sinners so they can enjoy right standing with Him now and eternal glory in the future.

The gospel is about Jesus coming from heaven in our humanity, living in perfect obedience to God, dying a special kind of death (one in which He received the wrath of God in the place of sinners), rising from the grave, and returning to heaven. The gospel is glorious! It carries those who repent of their sins and trust in Christ all the way from hell to heaven. As glorious as the gospel is, it is surprising that the major emphasis in many churches these days is on successfully coping with the challenges of this life.

If we want the blessing of the Lord, we must learn to put the emphasis where He has put it—on the gospel. If we refuse to do so, we invite His displeasure.

Will We Put a Stop to Intentional Sin?

Many other things could be added to this list of things that we need to stop—sexual immorality (including the viewing of pornography), putting our interest in sports over God, giving priority to accumulating material things. We need only to look at the Ten Commandments to be reminded of what God wants from us and how far short we come.

In recent times we have heard it said again and again that the coronavirus has created “a new normal.” Perhaps God has been using this pandemic to show us this: if we are guilty of doing the things mentioned above, we really do need “a new normal.” We can realize that new normal if we will repent of what we have been doing and begin to do what we should have been doing all along.

Drawing Near to God

In this time of social distancing, God is calling us to draw near to Him. He says: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8). God calls you in these words:

Seek the Lord while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the Lord,
And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
(Isaiah 55:6,7)

Will you heed His call?