When the clock struck midnight on
New Year’s Eve no one knew what was coming. The year 2020 has been one of loss,
sadness, and great hardship for people in every capacity. Really if you think
about it, there is not one person in modern society who has not been affected
by this year's events. The most tragic event of them all has been the
coronavirus pandemic which has swept the world by storm. Originating in Wuhan
China, the virus has been around since November. Since then it has spiraled out
of control and has affected everything from economies to shortages on common
goods such as toilet paper of all things.
Throughout this year I have
noticed a lot of non-believers being angry at God. They question why he would
put his people through this if he is a God of love? They look at us believers
like we are crazy for not wavering in our faith. It is during these times that
us Christians must turn to God more than ever.
Since this whole pandemic started
everyone has been coming up with their own theories about it. Some people
believe this is the beginning of the end of the world, some believe the coronavirus
was formulated in a lab for science purposes, and others believe that this was
an attack by the government, and it was all intentional. As a fellow Christian
however, one of these theories really stood out to me.
According to the NIV bible 2
Chronicles 7:13-14 says “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain,
or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my
people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my
face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will
forgive their sin and will heal their land.” This verse stands out for several
reasons. When I read this, it seems that God is angry. To be honest, he has
every right to be. The world we are living in no longer matches up with God’s
morals and set of rules. When talking about politics I often hear people say,
“God has left the USA”. This doesn’t literally mean God gave up on us. What it
implies is that these same morals have been gone for a long time and that is
why our society is how it is today. In the case of this verse, it appears God
has left the world, and 2020 is the year we pay for it.
It has been argued that this
verse foreshadows what happened and still is happening in 2020. “When I shut up
the heavens so that there is no rain…” refers to the Australian wildfires that
took place from June 2019 all the way through March of 2020. These fires tend
to start from lightning during thunderstorms that don’t produce rain. The
continued lack of rain or drought is what led to the fires raging on for months
on end.
The part of the verse that says
“...or command locusts to devour the land…” refers to the swarms of locusts
that took over eastern Africa. The swarms were so large that they appeared as
black clouds and visibility was slim. Entire fields of crops were completely
flattened resulting in millions of eastern Africans worried about facing
starvation amid this coronavirus pandemic.
Finally, “...or send a plague
among my people...” In this case, COVID-19 is the plague and it is definitely
among His people. Prior to the coronavirus, the last global pandemic was the
1918 influenza. It has been 102 years since the world has faced a global
pandemic such as the coronavirus. What are the odds that amidst this pandemic
the fires and locusts just so happen to occur in the same year?
Last of all, “...if my people,
who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and
turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive
their sin and will heal their land.” This is essentially saying if we as God’s
children turn back to Him, He will forgive our wicked ways and fix these issues
we are facing today. This leads back to what I said earlier about “God leaving
the world”. This may very well be God's way of helping people find their way
back to Him.
Earlier I talked about how I hear
people being angry at God and doubting those who do follow Him closely.
However, I also have noticed an increase of people talking about God in a
positive light. People who would normally never pray, are now praying every
day. People who doubted the Lord and never fully took the time to learn about Him are now picking up their bibles and making the effort to get to know Him. A
Lot of people began to realize that no matter how bad the issue at hand is, God
will always be there no matter the circumstance.
Sometimes it takes having
something really bad happen to realize how good you really had it. In this case
it may have taken a whole year full of crazy events and a global pandemic for
us to realize how much God has blessed us all and to bring us closer to Him.
People who think this is the beginning of the end may be right, but they also
may be wrong. This verse we discussed suggested a second chance for us all to
make things right. This may very well be the beginning of God coming back to the Earth.
