Thank you, Lord, for Covid-19…
18th October 2020
Peter Gray-Read shares his thoughts on Covid-19. Heartless! Crazy! Yes Covid-19 has been terrible for many and taken away loved ones - I would not want to belittle that, and the suffering involved. And I hope you stay clear… But hear me out
During the week one of my sons led a communion for over 100 young people – for his message he focused - not surprisingly - on the last supper. But have you paused to think about how Jesus prayed? What did he say… He gave thanks! He alone knew what awaited him over the next hours – travail in prayer, lack of support, betrayal, abuse, fake trial, false witnesses, intense pain and suffering, mocking, ridicule, humiliation, rejection, death, and burial – before his triumphant resurrection
Yes, before all this awful culmination of his faithful, miraculous ministry – knowing what awaited Him he GAVE THANKS! If Jesus could do that – knowing that his Father has the best plans for His creation, is it not possible to think that God has allowed Covid-19 and has valuable lessons for us to learn…
Such as? Well, what aspects of our culture / society has Covid-19 most impacted?
Football, drinking, NHS, finance, mental health, and, of course, church life:
So, football was the UK’s main religion, alcohol was the UK’s main obsession / drug, the NHS a most valued institution, financial security a main yardstick of government success. Mental health was dependent on active social life, connections etc. The RESET button has been pressed!
Of course, people could enjoy football without idolatry and drinking socially without excess but for many, this was not the case. The vulnerable were exploited by cheap alcohol and the betting industry. If we really valued the NHS we would have greatly reduced alcohol consumption years ago and improved our diet and lifestyle. There would have been more concerted efforts to reduce poverty and homelessness other than just as a means to reduce infection
If we allow the reset to take effect: governments would value more than just rich backers. They would value all life from conception… (based on abortion statistics for 2019 there would have been 174,500 terminations so far this year) so far (16th October) there have been 43,579 deaths attributed to Covid-19 that is under a quarter of the deaths due to abortion. SO let’s be real about the desire to preserve life
If Jesus has allowed Covid-19 it must be an opportunity for us to re-centre on Him. We know prophecy shows accelerating degradation of morals and conduct at the end of the age. But God is not willing that any should perish in the second death – so believers must step up to make Jesus known. Church leadership should have equipped us to go out and minister in the power of the Spirit – not focus on corralling the sheep within four walls. Preaching can be uplifting and teaching is helpful but mentoring and leadership in evangelism must be demonstrated. Foodbanks are great, the work of CAP and other groups is great… by all means we must lift up the name of Jesus and call the fearful, lonely and confused
Yes, Noah built the Ark and the world was judged. The world is in many ways as it was in Noah’s day – the imagination of man’s heart is evil continually Genesis 6:5, yet we can escape judgement by turning to Christ. Let’s not waste this Covid moment! The cross and the rainbow are signs of God’s judgement and His grace we must tell people of both
INVITATION:
We have had great blessing in reaching out through a CROSS WALK – we walk with a large wooden cross on the seafront or pedestrianised area and share the good news – IT WORKS we have seen a great response. If any would like to take part – please get in touch with me at: atp2gr@yahoo.co.uk
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