Good morning,
I
was leaving a restaurant washroom last week when the man in front of me
grabbed a paper towel, opened the door with it and explained that he
wasn’t taking any chances with Ebola. It was obvious that his fear
factor was way out of control since their is no evidence that, at this
point in time, Ebola is anywhere around us in central California. The
man did have a point though. We have been told that Ebola kills 70% of
those who get the disease, and when people are that terrified by the
idea of death, just hearing the word produces tension. Our scientists
have pictures of the bug and are finding out ways of protecting us from
getting the bug, and even some ideas of where it may have started, but
never think about who started the bug. The Bible makes it very clear
that the God of the Universe is the one who holds the keys to the
development and control of the bugs and plagues that start and stop
without our control. It’s the God of the universe who decides when and
where and how long these deadly punishments will be a part of his plan
to deal with the sin and rebellion that has been and is now sweeping
our world.
God told Moses, right after he wiped out the Egyptian
army in the sea, that his people were to listen carefully to their God
and obey his commands, then he would not make them suffer any of the
diseases that he had sent on the Egyptians. There was no question that
God had sent plague after plague on the Egyptians to show his power and
free his people from their slavery. Later, during King David’s reign,
God sent a plague on Israel that killed 70,000 people in just three
days.(2Sam.24:15) God used this weapon again and again during the Old
Testament and then Jesus promised that he would use it again in the
future to show his power and control over the world and the people that
would live in the future.(Luke 21:11) In Revelation the Apostle John
was told that God would use plagues as part of his plan to defeat the
rebellious people living at the end of Satan’s rule here on
earth.(Rev.6:8) So how should we respond to God’s decision to send
Ebola to West Africa and frighten the rest of the world with the
possibility of including them? As David points out in Psalm 91 we need
to make the Lord our refuge, trust him to protect us from this evil and
be aware that his angels will be protecting us wherever we go. Dear
Lord, thank you that we can trust your judgment and rely on your loving
care.
Exodus 15:26 He said, “If you will listen
carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his
sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not
make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am
the Lord who heals you.”
Roy Wisner
