This blog contains information about COVID-19 accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of writing. We understand that statistics are always changing in regard to this pandemic.
In ordinary times, grace in the process of life can be challenging. A lot of us don’t like disruptions or having to wait on God for answers to prayer. But as we mature in our walk with the Lord, we grow in understanding the value of partnering with God in our transformation.
Perhaps the most well-known treatise on this is found in the book of James.
When troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete needing nothing. (James 1:2–4 NLT)
Needing Nothing
Lacking nothing or “needing nothing” sounds like a great deal, right? But it doesn’t mean that we will receive all that we desire at the moment. For example, this Coronavirus has shut down many gyms around the world. For those committed to working out, this presents a real lack, and there can even be an offense at the “overkill” response by gym owners. Even if this may sound silly to some, there is grace in the process for such minor speed bumps. As we lack the physical ability to work out, we can still receive from God to the point of not lacking anything. He fills the voids in our lives with His presence.
Empathy
In comparison, there have been a little over 200 deaths in US related to Coronavirus, mainly concentrated in three states (WA, CA, NY), while in Italy there are over 3,400 related deaths, mainly occurring in small towns in the north. Crematoria have been operating around the clock, and mortuaries are being used to store coffins as funeral services have been banned. Wow, what a contrast to the lack of not being able to work out at the local gym! We pray grace in the process, for you, Italy.
Road to Completion
“Process can be a troublesome thing. It disrupts us and disorients us, and we would much rather skip to the end. But to live true, we must allow process to run its course.”* The author of this quote is writing about the danger of “premature resolution” in the day-to-day of our spiritual pilgrimage. Even Jesus was tempted in this manner when the road of obedience was overwhelming. Our saving grace is the cross of Christ. The road to its completion was paved with suffering and sacrifice.
Gethsemane Prayer
"My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."
He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, "My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine."
Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, "Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!"
Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, "My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done." When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open.
So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again. (Matthew 6:38–44, NLT)
Another gospel account adds that an answer from heaven arrived.
Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. (Luke 22:43–44, NLT)
Not only that, but Jesus gives us further insight.
Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly? But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what must happen now? (Matthew 26:53–54, NLT)
Praying More Fervently
We are all tempted, as was Jesus, to look for alternative solutions to our suffering. Whether a health pandemic, financial hardship, broken relationship, or wilderness of encounter (that feels more like wilderness than encounter), we need grace in the process. Jesus was strengthened and was able to pray more fervently. He resisted a premature resolution that would have diverted Him from His destiny. Our lives have a course setting, presided over by the Alpha and Omega.
We do not want our immediate comfort to trump the process of a richer fruit down the path, the fruit of “lacking nothing.”
Entitlement Culture
Coronavirus has hit the heart of our entitlement culture. But that’s too narrow of a view to really be comprehensive. These extraordinary times have in some sense been more ordinary for millions of other fellow saints around the globe. Social distancing, gym closure, hiccups to vacation planning, toilet paper shortage—these are depriving us of our rights and privileges. Yet we must stop and reflect on the reality that others have never even had the privileges that we have to even know what it’s like to be deprived of them.
However your endurance is being developed in these trying times, let it grow to full development and reap the rewards sure to come: needing nothing. In the meantime, Jesus is the same today as He was with His disciples. “Then he came to the disciples and said, ‘Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But look—the time has come'” (Matthew 26:45 NLT). This is the most accurate translation from Greek. It reflects the urgency of the hour, calling us to the front lines of intercession. It also reflects the empathetic heart of Christ, who knows our frailty and always makes available grace for the process.
*Chole, Alicia Britt. 2016. 40 Days of Decrease: A Different Kind of Hunger. A Different Kind of Fast. Thomas Nelson Inc.
Where do you need grace in light of the coronavirus?
