We end last time with some questions.
“Why is God allowing these things (COVID sickness, suffering and death) to happen?” What is He doing up there? If He is really in control, why not just He stop all these things?”
Throughout history, man has been asking these questions- and until this day, the answer remains a mystery.
But this doesn’t mean we cannot understand – it’s just that we cannot FULLY understand.
Even Jesus did not escape from this man’s multi-billion puzzle:
His disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” John 9:2
His close friends uttered, “…if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” John. 11:21
Our reflection today cannot promise you a finite answer – but let us see and be inspired by how Jesus solve the mystery.
To his disciples, he said: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him." John 9:3
To his close friends, he revealed: “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” John 11:4
And for us- what are His lessons?
First- sickness, suffering, and death are not God’s punishment to man (as what the old testament usually portrayed).
Second- sickness, suffering, and death are God’s instrument to make us know Him better (as what the new testament revealed).
To reflect further, if you will be reading the whole gospel from John 4 – you’ll know that Jesus is the LIGHT amidst darkness. And from John 11 – Jesus is the RESURRECTION, amidst death.
Indeed, in sickness you will know God is your greatest health. In suffering, God is your loving comfort. And in death, God is your sure Resurrection.
In plain words, we will really know God’s glory through our difficulty.
And as a result:
Third- sickness, suffering, and death (when carried with God) leads us (man) to Godly blessing. And the apex of these blessings is the RESURRECTION (as what the old and new testaments promised us until this day).
In a nutshell - through sickness, suffering and death you’ll not only know God better – you’ll also know yourself (Godly-self) better.
Try to look at these:
A dormitory owner offered his rooms to house medical front liners.
A soldier invented a washing area for public motorist for free.
A barangay chairman using his own vehicle to disinfect the whole barangay.
A nurse giving her free service to aid PUI patients.
A doctor who died trying to sustain life of COVID-infected people.
These are Godly self being revealed to us day in and day out due to these world-wide pandemic. And these ( and many other opportunities) are what sickness, suffering, and death can give us.
And this is why I believe God allows these things to happen.
It may not be perfect as the way you and I see it.
But we need them.
For about few seconds, just imagine.
Without work – how can we earn?
Without tiredness- how can we rest?
Without destruction – how can we build?
Without death (of animals/plants) – how can we feed ourselves and live?
Suffering is really an amazing and very inspiring mystery.
God even revealed it to us from the old days.
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end." Ecclesiastes 3: 1- 11.
Again, we may not fully understand everything (that's why FAITH is more polished in times of difficulty) but he assured us.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
He even said- “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” James 1:12
And he even reminded us: “but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:13
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Amen! There’s no other best way to understand the “WHY and HOW” of sickness, suffering, and death than to see (and worship) Jesus- the God who suffered and died in the CROSS and through all these- also RESURRECTED for and with us!
“From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” Matthew 16:21
Today, let us again entrust to God all our difficult moments (personal and social). Tell them to God (don’t continue reading without you first telling them to the Lord, He’s waiting to talk with you personally).
Now, remember, God allows sickness, suffering and death to give us blessings- (not to play with them, God is not a masochist God who enjoyed himself when he see us suffer) which sometimes we can’t understand and fully enjoy in times of abundance. And these blessings are to know Him and to know our Godly-self more.
In the end- still we can say:
For better or worse.
For richer and poorer.
In times of sickness and in health,
God is God, and God is still good.
To God be the glory!
Let us pray. (Silence)
Generous Father,
We thank you for today.
Thank you for supplying our needs and sustaining us with health.
Understand us for the moments we doubted you.
For the times we question your will for our life.
Today, amidst COVID-19, increase our faith. Increase our hope.
And increase our love for you and our neighbor. In Jesus name. Amen.
Guide questions for reflection:
1. How do I see sickness, suffering and death around the globe today? What God wants me to understand in all these things?
2. What is my Godly words (biblical verse) in times of difficulty? How do these words sustain my hope in God?
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