Affected Without Exemption
WE LIVE IN interesting times.
People are gripped with fear.
People are uncertain about the future.
People are fighting.
People are hoarding.
I saw one video of people actually fighting over toilet paper. One woman was trying to take a pack of it out of another woman's shopping cart. Most stores had signs telling people to get only enough toilet paper for two weeks, but some seem to want to get enough to last the rest of the 21st century. I was at a meeting with a friend of mine during these times, and he said,
"If you don't think people are panicking, just try to find toilet paper at Walmart." But I've got a word for everyone:
"Charmin will not save you."
Then there was a story of a man who bought up all of the hand sanitizers in his town and the surrounding ones, as well. He wound up with more than 17,000 bottles of the stuff, buying them for $3.50 per bottle and selling them for $50.00 each.
Racism is on the rise again. There are Asians who have been attacked because people are saying the Chinese caused this crisis. Of course, the ongoing crisis of systemic racism was widely protested in cities across the country. There is no doubt that the pandemic further aggravated and complicated race relations in America.
We were and still are experiencing information overload. We are so bombarded with reports, some false and some true, that it is hard to figure out who, if anyone, is telling the whole truth. The crisis creates a culture ripe for manipulation. Even modern man does not really know what to do when faced with something this big. And simply listening to this report or that one and the litany of talking heads out there will drive you crazy. That, in turn, will breed and build fear. It's like what Jesus talked about in Luke chapter 21, when he described, "Men's hearts failing them for fear." That kind of fear quenches faith. That kind of fear paralyzes you and is inherently destructive.
The vast majority of people on this planet do not really know about the awesome God we serve or what they think they know is wrong. Some people "know" all about God, who wants to make everybody happy, comfortable, and prosperous. Still, they willingly reject any concept of God that includes things like wrath, judgment, and righteousness.
I'm convinced that this is the reason for God's Thunderclap. It is a wake-up call for the church, and the world, compelling us to look at life through a spiritual lens. And not just any spiritual lens -- it is one designed by the Creator of all things. In this unique moment in time, everyone in the world is affected without exemption.