What Might God Be Doing in All of This?

In lieu of writing a full-length blog post, I'm encouraging my few readers to simply watch the video I made. I've been making mid-week videos to send to my church family via email (by way of our Youtube page). These videos supplement the Sunday videos, which include a Sunday school lesson and a sermon. 

The outline of my little video talk is as follows (this way, you can decide whether or not the video is worth your time!):

Intro - Everyone is a theologian during this global crisis, speaking for God

What does God say about this? 

   -Job 2:10 - both good and bad from God's hand

   -Lamentations 3:31-33, 37-38 - he afflicts, but not for long

   -Amos 3:6 - disaster hits a city at his decree (also Isaiah 45:7)

   -Ecclesiastes 7:14 - God has created day of peace AND the day of adversity 

   -Matthew 10:29 - even insignificant details happen before God's eye

   -Ephesians 1:11 - He works all things according to the counsel of His will

-All that happens falls under two categories: God's actions (what he actively does), and God's permissions (what he allows to happen, for good purposes)

   -like a farmer with imperfect soil, God allows things to happen in His fallen creation

   -like a carpenter with crooked tools and materials, God knows how to actively make straight what is beautiful

Three things God might be doing in the midst of this pandemonium:

1. Reorienting the church's priorities 

     -churches often are growth-driven, program-driven, or status-quo driven (or all of the above)

     -now, churches are being forced to work on relationships, adopt new means of communication, and evangelize (yes, evangelize - much gospel is happening online)

2. Confronting postmodern theorism with hard circumstances 

     -Post-m mind: No meaning in words or actions, only interpretation by the beholder. 

     -But this leads to the death of truth, and who can trust anything anymore? 

     -God brings calamity to test our foolishness masquerading as wisdom: "I'll give you problems you can't solve, since you think you're so smart." 

3. Making November's election appear smaller (read: less significant than media says and we believe)

     -politics matter, and someone will be president-elect in late November

     -but Christians follow King Jesus first, and have world's kingdoms turned to 5, with gospel turned to 9; perhaps this is all happening to keep that in our mind

Indeed, all happens to serve our growth and sanctification in Jesus (Rom. 8:28); closing with CS Lewis's "Palace" Parable: 

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself."

        -That'll preach.