7. God is trustworthy—and we are not abandoned.
It can be hard to see where God is during times like these. Why didn’t He stop the virus from spreading? Why won’t He intervene to save every life? Why is there now a global crisis of hunger? Ultimately, why is this happening?
These are hard questions; and they’re the types of questions that have been asked since the beginning of time. But God is there if we have the courage to look for Him. His ways are not our ways, but we can trust that He will accomplish His perfect will, and that He invites us to participate in His plan for the world.
For Christians who have experienced persecution, suffering for Jesus can make this lesson plain. The suffering is still there, and it might seem unfair or even pointless. And yet, time and time again, that’s not what we hear from God’s people. “I am always amazed by how God worked in mysterious ways to answer our prayers and meet our needs,” explains Aditi*. She is a 16-year-old believer from India whose family experienced severe persecution for following Jesus. “All this time, God just wanted to teach us how to trust in Him, and now, in the end, we know that He is trustworthy. He never abandoned us or put us to shame.”
Aditi’s father feels these same truths. Even though he had times of doubt in God’s goodness, he would come to the Lord in prayer and be reminded of God’s truth. “Often when I felt discouraged, I spent time in prayer,” he says. “It was then I gained the courage to trust in Him; it’s true that we need the courage to trust in God. And that courage comes through prayer.”
God is there, even when it can be hard to see His hand. We can pray to ask God to help us have eyes to see His work in our lives, even in the midst of a global pandemic. This time of uncertainty is an opportunity for all of us to see Him and trust that He has not abandoned us—and to have the courage to follow Him, love our neighbors and live for Him, no matter what happens.