How a Global Pandemic Can Strengthen Your Prayers for World Missions
As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads around the world and impacts our own lives, we have a unique opportunity to better understand the circumstances of those in other parts of the world. In very real ways, Westerners have felt the desperation of wondering whether we will have the food and supplies we need for the coming weeks. We’ve questioned whether we’ll have a job and means of supporting our families. We have seen the fallibility of our healthcare system, one of the best in the world but still unable to keep up with the demands of a pandemic. We have experienced the way many of those who are least reached with the gospel people live daily: at the mercy of God to provide the next meal; placing their lives in the untrustworthy hands of ill-equipped doctors and under-equipped hospitals. So many men spend their days idly sitting around, unable to find work that could give them dignity in providing for their families.
Even more, on a spiritual level, we are now faced with the odd and challenging reality that we cannot meet together with our local church family for Sunday worship. Weekly fellowship may be happening, but not in the way we are used to: we are having to get creative. Parking lot coffee dates. Zoom Bible study and prayer meetings. For Christians living in Muslim-majority countries, these challenges are not new. Many are not legally allowed to gather to worship in the name of Jesus. Others, in Chad for example, are technically allowed to meet but are met with death threats, lose their jobs, face beatings or death from family and tribal members. You can see why convincing unbelievers to consider the truths of the Gospel, much less planting a church, is a challenge.
What does this have to do with your quarantine? God is sovereign over this pandemic, and He is working in many ways at once. We cannot attempt to understand all He is doing, but we do know that His character remains the same. This means that His love, mercy, justice, righteousness, wisdom, are all on full display during this season. It also means that His heart for the nations and for His church does not stop. He hasn’t put aside His desire to draw all people to Himself so He can sort out the mess of COVID-19! Your quarantine is meant to draw you closer to God’s character, His truth as revealed in Scripture, and to His heart. Part of that might mean that His Spirit reveals sins and grants you repentance. Maybe He gives you a new love for His church as a result of not having the privilege of meeting together with your church family.
I pray that it also causes you and me to pause and consider how we can better pray for unbelievers in other places who struggle to find food to eat and jobs to provide for their families and who don’t have good health care. These are the ones who are too busy just trying to survive to have much capacity to think about spiritual concepts such as life, death, sin, and salvation. These same ones in the Muslim world are unwilling to consider Jesus because of the severe persecution they will experience as a result of following Him. I pray that this pandemic causes us to love Christ and His Bride more so that we might better pray for believers around the world who don’t know the privilege of freely gathering for worship and preaching of the Word.
This quarantine may seem like a retreat from the world. However, God can use you and me to impact the world for His kingdom through our prayers.
Let’s keep our bodies inside, our hearts on Christ, and our prayers towards the growing of His kingdom. Don’t waste your quarantine!