It is terrible to hear of thousands of people dying, including a bishop, pastor, and elder in the same city. It is terrible to hear of millions of people losing their jobs. It is terrible to hear about so much suffering and grief and turmoil. Yet in the midst of this crisis, God is at work. In fact, He has a plan. A redemptive plan. It is imperative that we get a divine perspective on the current crisis.
On March 18, I sent an email to my primary publisher with the subject heading, “A Crazy Idea?” The “crazy idea” was this. Since I had been feeling so stirred to write and speak and preach on biblical themes related to the virus, should I try to put together a book to get out immediately? Could it be?
My editors said yes – they had been sensing the very same thing – and 8 days later, I had completed the manuscript. The book is due out on April 15 with the title, When the World Stops: Words of Faith, Hope, and Wisdom in the Midst of Crisis. Less than one month to write and publish a book. This does not happen every day.
But I share that here to say this: God has much to say to His people in this hour. And if we will step back and hear His voice, I believe we will hear Him say this: “Redeem this for My glory!”
One of the chapters of my forthcoming book is titled, “Seize the Moment!”. In that chapter, I relate the account of Jesus healing the man born blind in John 9. It reads:
“As [Jesus] went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’
“‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’” (John 9:1–5)
Do you see what happened here? The Lord never told His disciples how this man became blind, other than it was not the result of personal sin. How, then, did the man come to be born blind?
Jesus doesn’t tell us. He doesn’t say, “My Father did it.” He doesn’t say, “The devil did it.” He doesn’t say, “This is a purely natural phenomenon.” Instead Jesus says that the man “was born blind so that the acts of God may be revealed through what happens to him” (John 9:3b, NET) – meaning, through his healing.
SOURCE: Christian Post, Michael Brown
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