Time to Pray, Time to Do Good
This past week I was sick with the flu. I had to get COVID tests done (PCR and a couple of rapid tests at home). Though the test results came out to be negative, I was really sick with fever, headache and body ache for quite a few days. Now I am back to relatively good health. But during my time in bed, I got to think about and pray for those who were sick and was able to sympathize with those who are suffering physically and mentally. Some of you actually came to mind and I prayed for you. If you are sick and need a prayer, please let me know. If you need a zoom visit in this period, please let me know. It will be my delight and privilege to pray for you.
While I was sick, I got to read some books I had wanted to read for a while. One of them was God and the Pandemic: A Christian Reflection on the Coronavirus and Its Aftermath by N.T. Wright. The book helped me to reflect on a couple of things in light of my own sickness and the ongoing challenges beset by the pandemic.
1. It’s time to pray and lament. When the world is going through great convulsions, the followers of Jesus are called to be people of prayer at a place of pain. Christian life is sometimes described as groaning until glory. Suffering is real in this broken world and we groan in our suffering. Romans 8:22-23 shows us that “the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” If you are groaning, especially in this season, please know that you are not alone. I am groaning. We are all groaning together. In fact, the whole creation is groaning. And we are to bring our groaning to God in prayer. The kind of prayer we are to offer in this season is lament: lamenting over the brokenness we see and experience in ourselves and in this world. Aren’t we grateful that the Spirit himself is praying for us “with groaning too deep for words” (Romans 8:26)? That’s an amazing comfort in this season of groaning. God, the Spirit, is interceding for us — “for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:27).
2. It’s time to do good and share the good news. It’s time to participate in the mission of God. ESV translates Romans 8:28 as “for those who love God all things work together for good” whereas NIV translates it as “in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” I have come to learn that NIV is more faithful to the syntax of the original language and the literary context. It’s not that somehow “all things will work out” for our good by God’s providence. It’s more that God is actively at work to make all things towards the ultimate good. Furthermore, I have learned that the word translated “work for” in both ESV and NIV is better translated as “work with.” That means, “God works withthose who love God.” God not only works for his people; God works with them. God works all things towards ultimate good with and through those who love him. In Romans 8 we learn that the Spirit and the saints are both co-operating with the Father for the work of redemption and restoration. So Romans 8:28 is more than a word of comfort; it’s a call to do hard work—knowing that God is at work in us. N.T. Wright writes, “Paul is offering a Jesus-shaped picture of a suffering, redeeming providence, in which God’s people are themselves not simply spectators, not simply beneficiaries, but active participants.” In the midst of suffering we are called to serve God and his purpose. In the world of pain we participate in the mission of God with tears and toil, in lament and labor.
Wright’s short book on God and the Pandemic helped me to focus on two things in this season and in the new year: prayer and mission. It’s time to pray. It’s time to weep with those who weep. It’s time to groan over the brokenness of our lives and the world and bring our groanings to God in prayer. And it’s also time to do work. It’s time to do good to those in need. It’s time to share the good news of Jesus Christ. It’s time to persevere in doing good and in sharing the good news.
It’s my prayer that we will not grow weary in praying to God nor in doing good for people around us.