Responding to Crisis
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· 23 viewsResponding to the Coranovirus of 2020
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TEXT: 2 Chronicles 20:12
TOPIC: Responding to Crisis
Pastor Bobby Earls, Northgate Baptist Church, Florence, SC
Sunday morning, March 22, 2020
(A message shared over Facebook Live during the Coronavirus crisis of 2020)
The word of the week for me has been the word “unprecedented.” I have used it often in describing this unique time in history when the United States and the world is facing the Coronavirus epidemic.
Most generations of man have faced crises such as the Coronavirus. In most of our lifetimes we can remember dangerous, life-threatening viruses such as Ebola, SARS, H1N1 or the Swine Flu, (I surely hope pigs were not offended when we chose to play identity politics by calling H1N1 the Swine Flu).
Some of us can remember when Polio was so very frightening before a vaccine was discovered. Even measles, mumps and chicken pox were a scare when I was much younger. The flu still kills between 18,000 to 60,000 annually in the U.S. alone. And TB or tuberculosis takes another 1 to 1.5 million lives in the world each year!
But Coronavirus is unprecedented more because of the national and global response. Never have we chosen to bring life to a screeching halt in response to a dangerous contagion. And our response is as frightening as is the Coronavirus itself for many.
And that is how I want to introduce the message I am sharing with you through Facebook Live this morning.
I am grateful this morning to several individuals who helped to point me to this message and to the Scripture I will share with you. First, my young nephew, Will Ford. Will is yet to graduate from college, an aspiring young preacher, posted this message from Travis Agnew early this past week.
Then later last week I came across a wonderful online message from Dr. David Jeremiah using the very same Scripture. It seems God may be leading many of His people to find solace from the same Old Testament passage.
If you have your Bible nearby, open the pages of God’s word to 20th chapter of 2 Chronicles. That’s the Old Testament book of 2 Chronicles, one of the history books of the Old Testament.
2 Chronicles 20:1–22 (NKJV) 1 It happened after this that the people of Moab with the people of Ammon, and others with them besides the Ammonites, came to battle against Jehoshaphat. 2 Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria; …………... 3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord. 5 Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, 6 and said: “O Lord God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You? 7 Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever? 8 And they dwell in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying, 9 ‘If disaster comes upon us—sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine—we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your name is in this temple), and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.’ 10 And now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir—whom You would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and did not destroy them—11 here they are, rewarding us by coming to throw us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit. 12 O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”
“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
2 Chronicles 20:12
These were the words of King Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, 850 years before the birth of Christ. What is happening in this passage is that an allied group of nations were moving against the people of Judah, and King Jehoshaphat was concerned and anxious by this great threat to the security and safety of his people.
King Jehoshaphat took several important actions that I believe can help each of us as we face the threat, not of an invading army, but the threat of an invisible army called Covid-19 or the Corona Virus.
What did he do? What should we do?
1. He prayed and fasted (and encouraged others to do so) (2 Ch. 20:3).
As the people of God, we can stand before his presence confident that he hears us. He sees us. He knows what we are going through, and He is able to save us.
I’m praying for deliverance, protection, and direction.
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2. He remembered God’s faithfulness in the past (2 Ch. 20:4-7).
3. He expressed his confidence in God’s ability to handle anything (2 Ch. 20:8-9).
“If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or PESTILENCE, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you – for your name is in this house – and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.” 2 Chronicles 20:9
Pestilence – A word used in the Bible to refer to a plague or deadly disease or epidemic. And in some ways, that is what we seem to be facing with this new virus, the Coronavirus.
While I don’t think the COVID-19 is on the level of a fatal epidemic disease, it is frightening for many. We need to understand this. God can handle an epidemic and God can also cover a pandemic. In moments like these, God’s people are meant to call out to God and see him deliver as only he can.
4. He acknowledged his inability but professed God’s ability (2 Ch. 20:10-12).
5. The people remembered that God would be fighting their battles (2 Ch. 20:13-17).
6. They worshiped (2 Ch. 20:18-21).
7. God provided the victory (2 Ch. 20:22).
We may not know what to do, but our eyes are on the God who does know what to do and is able to do all things.
I’m also not sure what we will do in the coming days. I am not 100% sure what we will do as a church in the next few weeks. I am certainly praying and hopeful that we will be able to meet together soon, perhaps as soon as April. I certainly hope we can all celebrate Easter Sunday together. Whatever we do, it will be with the safety and health of our members, especially our older members with underlying health issues.
I do know this. With God’s help, we will get through this. Until that time, remember the steps of Jehoshaphat. (Review the steps)
1. He prayed and fasted.
2. He remembered God’s faithfulness.
3. He expressed his confidence in God’s ability to handle anything.
4. They remembered that God would be fighting their battles.
5. They worshiped.
6. God provided the victory!