Meet the Context

There’s no way we can tell the secular world that death is not a tragedy. Leaving this world means going to be with God, on whatever terms we have worked out with Him while we were here. It’s pretty sad for the majority of humanity who refuse to come to God and work out any terms at all, but we knew that long ago.

So God is culling the human race and bringing home a select group whose flesh can’t fight off the effects of this COVID-19. This is not random. Whatever God decides, no one person or group of humans can stay His hand. For the most part, paying attention to wise health guidance makes you as immune as you will get, and the rest is in the hand of God. A significant element in Biblical Law has always been keeping an eye on such things in accordance with His revelation. That’s how you paint the Blood on your doorposts so He spares you; it’s the fastidious obedience to His revelation.

We should be prepared to go Home on His whims. For as long as He delays that, we have a mission to manifest His glory by our fastidious obedience. That’s the only reason we have for hanging around.

I’ll give you a concrete example: I still plan to continue the mission of riding long distances on a bicycle and taking pictures of the Oklahoma countryside. There will be an obvious delay for things like this sudden cold snap and wet weather. And there will be some kind of delay for the COVID-19 plague, though what kind of delay remains to be seen. The mission will wait, but it won’t end until my life ends. And I’m still raising funds for that new bike. That will probably take awhile, but it’s still in God’s hands either way.

If the government releases a bunch of stimulus checks, that would speed the fundraiser up quite a bit. And such a stimulus is not a bad idea. This is probably one of the few good things our government could do to help the dying economy taper off slowly. Nothing will stop it from collapsing, but the most moral course is pumping the money into the people’s hands, not those of bankers and big corporate investors. This gives folks one last chance to invest wisely in God’s mission in their lives. Most people have no such notion, but that kind of stimulus is still the right way to do things.

If the new bike never materializes, it doesn’t change my mission, it simply limits how I can execute. Meanwhile, I’m moving ahead in faith as if it’s coming sooner or later. I’ll keep training as much as the situation allows. It’s the same faith that doesn’t fear catching the virus; I’ll play by the quarantine rules that arise where I live because I have no call from God to resist. Eventually this will all be over and I can continue where I left off.

The world will surely change, but this speaks to me that my mission will become even more important. Getting sick or dying would be just a circumstance. It’s all part of shalom — peace with God.