Growing up, I always thought it was ok for a bad things to happen to bad people. I believed in the rule of reaping and sowing; you know, what you sow is what you get. There have been countless times I thought people deserved the stuff they are going through because they caused it in the first place. The scientists put it this way, ‘action and reaction are equal and opposite‘. When I played the brother of the prodigal son, if you are familiar with that bible story or when I played Jonah who wants the City of Nineveh to be destroyed because they are sinners. Yeah, I know you must be shocked and disappointed to read this and must be thinking, “What a self-righteous writer!” But before you pick up your rock to stone me, just give me a few minutes of your time to defend myself.
As I continue to mature in my relationship with God, I have encountered my Father’s heart. I have grown to know a God who chases after His children in spite of their state of being and His love has been described as reckless. In seeking Him out during this pandemic season of isolation, some of my friends and I have decided to study more of His word and learn to hear from Him. Therefore, I have been engrossed in this book by Kris Vallotton, ‘School of the Prophets’. The book was written over 5 years ago, but sections of this book are so relevant to our current season and I want to share some of the insights from the book here.
I remember one day, racing down our stairs and beaming with all the excitement in the world and squealing at Eben that “Kris’s book was written for this season because it has so much insight about what is happening in the world now”. I said, “You will think that Kris knew about 2020 and wrote the book for Christians to understand what is going on.”
I know there has been so much chatter from Christendom about how this pandemic is a sign of God’s wrath. But ever since I got the revelations from Kris’s book, I cringe every time I see another post or message inferring that. That explains why at nearly midnight on a working day, I woke up from my sleep with a burden to share God’s heart. I don’t want to go all theologian on you, but this message may do that, as I have to quote a few bible verses to bring the message home.
The Old Testament and the New Testament defines two distinct relationships between us and the Father. The Old Testament gives us all the laws and consequences the people of God had to live by. It is full of wrath, judgement and death sentencing. Just to name a few scenarios, we have the famous prophet Elijah killing the prophets of Baal, David beheading Goliath, the children of Israel being struck to death for disobedience and the list goes on. However, the New Testament came to fulfil and do away with obsolete parts of the Old Testament. Jesus’s death on the cross guaranteed our reconciliation to the Father. Through Prophet Jeremiah, God spoke of a new covenant with us, this is found in Jeremiah 31:31-34. This prophecy was confirmed in Hebrews 8:10-13, where verse 13 puts it like this,
When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.
Hebrews 8:13 NLT
The Old Testament law does not define how we live our lives now, how we relate to God or how God relates to us. Jesus spoke about this in Matthew.
43 “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! 45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.
Matthew 5:43-45 NLT
Jesus’s death saves us (not just Christians, but the whole world) from the wrath of God; because God is the God of the world.
And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.
Romans 5:9 NLT
Jesus brought us salvation and so when He read Isaiah 61 in Luke 4:19 in the synagogue, He intentionally omitted the part about bringing the vengeance of God.
To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn.
Isaiah 61:2 NIV
Jesus’s death changes our role as people of God. We are no longer condemners and judges but we are called to reconcile the world to God and not count people’s sins against them.
17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:17-19 NLT
We seem to forget that, people have lost their loved ones through this pandemic. Others have lost their jobs and people who can’t handle isolation are being forced to isolate. Imagine the pain, hurt and disappointment they must feel, when they hear or see Christian posts or messages that implies that God is punishing the world. How would such people be drawn to this kind of God? When we spread the message that God uses calamity and disaster to bring justice, we cause the world to blame God for everything that goes wrong in the world.
Can I put a disclaimer out there now, whilst we are still at it? God did not cause COVID-19 and the world is not coming to an end! We cannot spiritualise every calamity that happens on earth. Some are caused by human actions. God does not use calamity or destruction to bring about redemption but He promises to redeem us in such times; and so we should pray during this season for Him to step in and restore the whole world again.
A thief has only one thing in mind—he wants to steal, slaughter, and destroy. But I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect —life in its fullness until you overflow!
John 10:10 TPT
The next time you get a doomsday, crafty and artistic post or text and you are tempted to forward it, pause and ask yourself, “is this the Father’s heart?” We shouldn’t give the devil any more power and influence by spreading his falsehood. Lets spread the hope and restorative power of God in this season.
16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
Ephesians 3:16-18 NLT
May you be filled with the Fullness of God and the Power of His Love!
Thanks for the message, God bless you and keep it up
Amen sis. Thanks for the encouragement 🙂.