Episode 48 – Victory over the Virus Part 1

Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God.

Script: (Bible quotes from the New International Version and others)

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.

Deuteronomy, Chapter 31, verse 6, New International Version

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil;

For You are with me.”

Psalm 23, verse 4, New King James Version

Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;

Isaiah, Chapter 49, verses 15 and 16, New King James Version

I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.

The Gospel of John, Chapter 11, verse 25, New King James Version

********

VK: Good Morning. I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m here today with RD Fierro, author and founder of Crystal Sea Books. Today we had planned to start a new series on Anchored by Truth to focus on one of the strongest lines of evidence for the Bible’s inspiration: fulfilled prophecy. But given all that’s going on in our community and nation right now we thought that we should set that aside for a moment and take some time to meditate on some of what the Bible says to us about one of the most important – and comforting – things God says to us in the Bible: that God promises he will never leave us or forsake us. RD, care to make some introductory comments?

RD: I’d love to. One of the questions you hear most when tragedy and difficult circumstances arise is the question I often hear TV hosts ask the ministers who they bring on their shows during these times. “Where is God in all of this?” For me there’s a short answer to that question which I don’t think would satisfy anyone and then the longer answer which personally brings me a lot of comfort. The short answer is that God is right where He has always been, but that that answer is incomplete in oh-so-many ways. The longer answer is that God is right where He has always been, but that means that He is still with us because as we heard in our scriptures today He has promised that “He will never leave us or forsake us.” To me, that’s a promise with some truly astounding dimensions.

VK: Hmmm. That sounds both intriguing and oddly reassuring all at the same time. But before we unpack the “longer answer” more fully, RD has recorded a message of encouragement to the church because we want to remind everyone that the church – the body of believers in Christ – can be a source of hope and comfort for their communities in times like this.

---- Encouragement to the Church

VK: I think that message is a good reminder to us all. One of the biggest reasons that the church spread so rapidly in its infancy was because believers acted very differently from their pagan neighbors of the time. Plagues were not uncommon in the ancient world and they were certainly well known in the Roman empire in the first few centuries AD. But typically in those days when a plague arrived the wealthy and powerful who could just moved away from the affected area. The poor and common people had to just stay and suffer. The values of the various pantheons of gods that were prevalent at the time did not contain an exhortation to care or provide for the less fortunate. But the Christians were different weren’t they.

RD: Yes. Rather than flee the afflicted areas the Christians actually stayed and tried to bring relief to their communities. This was such a departure from what the people were used to that it attracted a lot of attention to Christianity. There’s a good article on billmuehlenberg.com where he talks about the vast differences in the two value systems and what affect that had on a positive reaction to early Christianity. Naturally, any suffering group that gets help is going to feel an attraction to the group that’s providing the help which made them much more receptive to hearing the gospel.

VK: Well that makes perfect sense. We’re always going to be receptive to anyone – and their message - who is putting themselves at risk for us. So, what about this long and short answer to the question: “Where is God in all this?” As you said, the short answer is that God is right where He has always been, but the longer answer is that that’s good news - because our God is always with us.

RD: Exactly. And that can be both troubling and comforting. I heard that a Sunday school teacher once asked her class what they thought God was like. After hearing various answer she finally got around to little David who said, “I think God is the fellow who’s always hanging around to see if anyone is having a good time. And if they are He tries to put a stop to it.”

VK: Ouch. That’s a bit…

RD: Troubling?

VK: To say the least…

RD: Well, at least it means the Sunday school teacher still had plenty of opportunities to help her students, especially with little David. Anyway, setting aside that cute – but disturbing – perspective, I think a lot of people who aren’t Christians, and even some Christians, often wonder about calamities and tragedies. Why does God permit them in the first place?

VK: I often wonder that.

RD: So do I. Unfortunately, I once heard a minister say something I have certainly found to be true. One of the questions God isn’t often inclined to answer is “why He does anything?” And as he went on to say, if God condescended to provide us the answer most of the time we wouldn’t have the capacity to understand it. But there are two other questions that are related to the “why” and God will often provide us some insights into those answers, even in the middle of the crisis.

VK: And those questions are?

RD: Can God bring blessing out of calamity? And the answer to that question is decidedly: Yes. But going along with that question is another one. “What can I learn from what I’m going through and how can I use it to be a blessing to others?”

VK: Oh. I see where you’re going with this and I’m not sure I like it.

RD: The Bible unambiguously tells us that God is a good God but that’s quite different from saying that we, as human beings, are always going to like, or agree, with everything that our good God does.

VK: Amen to that but sometimes I wish that was the case.

RD: If God only did things I agree with it then that would make me God – and I’m not and I’m glad I’m not. But even when things happen that we don’t like Romans 8:28 tells us straightforwardly that, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Notice that the Apostle Paul doesn’t say that everything is good as some people sometimes misconstrue the verse to say. Paul says that God IS working in all things for the good of those who are called according to his purpose. That means that God will often leave us in our situations but that doesn’t mean He’s indifferent to them. Quite the contrary. God works in our situations for our good but it would be foolish to say that this is an easy lesson to absorb. Regretably, there is a lot of truth in C.S. Lewis’ observation, “We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” But I would hasten to add that even in our pain God never leaves us or forsakes us. That’s where I derive comfort. I’m never alone.

VK: Yes. I’ve always been struck by the verse out of the 23rd Psalm that we included in our opening scriptures. When we walk through desperate times – even in the valley of the shadow of death – God is there with us. The only reason we can walk those valleys without fearing evil is because He walks with us?

RD: “Exactamundo.” And that points back to one of the reasons it’s so important that we take some time to read and study the Bible. We can’t be comforted by its promises if we aren’t familiar with those promises. I can see where people who have never meditated on God’s unambiguous declaration that He won’t leave us or forsake us or walk with us in our darkest valleys could be discouraged. They don’t know what we know. Just like a person who doesn’t know about a medical treatment would be far more terrified than the doctor they’re about to meet who’s treated that condition successfully hundreds of times. The patient is terrified but the doctor is not about the same situation. Once the patient knows what the doctor knows they can derive a lot of comfort from that knowledge.

VK: Oh. Wow. That’s a really amazing point. Christians can live life with a lot less fear because we have the promise that we’re never alone. Never. But there’s no way someone who isn’t familiar with the Bible can have that same confidence.

RD: Exactly. And that’s why it’s so important that when we provide material comfort or assistance to people we are also prepared to provide the good news that Christ is always willing to comfort those who have humble and contrite hearts. But obviously that comfort is only available to those who not only know the Bible – but also have confidence that the Bible is truly the word of God. I mean if someone thinks that the Bible is just a collection of myth and fairy tale why would they be comforted by reading through its many, many passages of reassurance? Oh and there are a lot more of those passages than we had time to open with today. With the internet they’re even easy to locate.

VK: It’s a little like back in the days when people had to depend on letters to get news about a loved one who was far away. How many mothers and fathers were reassured when they got letters from their sons or daughters who were far away and in danger? People wouldn’t just read those letters once. They would read them over and over because of the reassurance they got.

RD: That’s a great illustration of how the Bible can provide reassurance when we’re feeling anxious. And I know it’s silly to say but there is no reason we can’t read a comforting passage as many times as we want.

VK: You know, you don’t think about that. A lot of people have Bible study patterns they use like reading a certain amount so they can make it through the entire Bible in a year. But as good a habit as that can be, maybe at times like this they just want to read particular parts over and over like the 23rd Psalm or Romans chapter 8 or Hebrews 7:25 where it tells us that Jesus lives to make intercession for us with the Father. I mean there’s no reason we can’t read those sections as often as want.

RD: Or Hebrews 4:16 where we are invited to go boldly or with confidence before the throne of grace. Sometimes in our very independent culture we forget that God never, ever asks us to do anything on our own – like handle this virus and its effects. He invites to bring all our cares to Him (1 Peter 5:7) because He cares for us.

VK: So to circle back to what you’re calling “Victory over the Virus,” you’re saying that the first two things people should do – aside from heeding the instructions of government and health officials – is to get back to searching the scriptures and going to Jesus with our needs. And we can do those things with confidence because Jesus opened the way for us when He sacrificed Himself to make sure that the way was open.

RD: Yes and no.

VK: I like it when you’re definitive.

RD: Well, yes we should do those things, but it’s not me saying it. That admonition comes straight from God himself. Let’s listen to 2 Chronicles 7:14 and I’m quoting here because I want to get this right. “… 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.” That’s from the New International Version. God not only wants us to come to him but promises that when we do He will act to help us.

VK: Whoa. Did I hear that right? God said if his people humbled themselves He would heal their land. Heal it. That sounds a lot like what we need right now.

RD: Yes. And notice God addressed that to “his people” - in other words for today that’s Christians. He tells us to humble ourselves, turn from our sins, and seek His face and He will not only forgive our sins He will heal our land. It’s not that the Bible or God or that verse isn’t concerned with all people. God is. In fact, think how many people who aren’t Christians would be benefited if we heed that advice? I have been including in my prayers that God show His power and bring glory to Himself by supernaturally limiting the spread of the virus.

VK: How would He do that?

RD: I don’t know and if He explained it in a way I could understand it wouldn’t be supernatural. But this is one thing I do know. God can limit the spread and bring His victory over this virus. He’s sovereign and will decide in His own good providence whether to do it, but I – all of us – are absolutely permitted to pray for it and James 5:16 says that the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective. And James doesn’t say perfect. We’re righteous if we’ve trusted Jesus for our salvation and we’re trying to walk in obedience to him. We don’t have to be perfect. He knows we’re not. But we do have to do as Matthew 6:33 says seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

VK: Which we will be doing if we humble ourselves and consciously turn away from our sin. You know, this episode of Anchored by Truth has been all about Victory over the Virus but it really has been a wonderful illustration of the unity of scripture. God didn’t just give one or two promises of reassurance to His children in the Bible. He wove his assurances to His children throughout the Bible which proves how much He really does care for us. Well, I don’t know how many Bible verses we’ve hit today but a lot. For our listeners who might like to be able to re-hear some of them, as with all episodes of Anchored by Truth, this episode will become a podcast shortly after the broadcast and there will be a text file of the podcast notes that will contain the verses. Today we’re going to close with Crystal Sea Books recently released Victory over the Virus prayer. Both it and the message of encouragement we heard at the start of the show are available on the Crystal Sea Books Facebook page. We pray all of listeners and our nation and communities stay safe. Also, remember what Nehemiah told us. “The joy of the Lord is our strength.” Let’s all stay strong in Christ.

---- PRAYER FOR VICTORY OVER THE VIRUS (radio version)

VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.”

If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not famous but our Boss is!”

(Opening Bible Quotes from the New International Version and New King James Version)

Deuteronomy, Chapter 31, verse 6, New International Version

Psalm 23, verse 4, New King James Version

Isaiah, Chapter 49, verses 15 and 16, New King James Version

The Gospel of John, Chapter 11, verse 25, New King James Version

https://billmuehlenberg.com/2020/03/14/coronavirus-christianity-history-and-faith/