Read
John 9:1-3 (NIV)
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 

Reflect  
Have you heard of “karma.”  The idea is this: “What goes around, comes around.” So, if I do good – good will come back to me or if I do bad – bad will come back to me. The disciples did not believe in karma, but they did believe that suffering was the result of evil actions. So, when they came upon the man born blind, they had to ask Jesus, “Who sinned, this man or his parents.” 

Unfortunately, some Christian leaders are indicating that covid-19 is God’s punishment on humanity’s unwillingness to repent and come to faith in Jesus. Jesus came to this world to save the world, not to punish or to destroy it. On the contrary Peter tells us that God’s desire is to see all come to repentance and faith (2 Peter 3:9). So, hold fast to the promises of God even in the midst of uncertainty and know that he loves us as his very own children. 

But the Lord does not treat us according to what we have done. Instead, he shows mercy to all who repent. God’s works of love are displayed in us when he calls us to see that his Son, Jesus has already taken our punishment upon himself. God treats believers as his children, with love and care, even though we have not earned that status ourselves. His blessings to us are a gift. We may still suffer while we are in this fallen world, but the Lord will one day rescue us from it all and take us to himself in glory. 

Pray    
Dear God, thank you for treating me according to Jesus’ good deeds and not my own. We pray that you would bring an end to this deadly virus. Amen.