Finding God in the pandemic

BY DANIEL MENSAH AWUAH

We see God’s grace at work in crises. In African cosmology, for example, it is believed that pandemics are a punishment from God, and only libation prayers with specific rituals aimed at pacifying the gods can avert the situation. As a Christian, I do not agree that God orchestrates pandemics. God is generous to all humanity and has vowed not to destroy humanity again after the floods in Noah’s time that wiped away the entire world. Therefore, the coronavirus pandemic cannot be attributed to God but rather to the activities of humanity. Despite our disbelief and amid our tragedies, God is ready and generous to save us. This pandemic, therefore, needs no libation prayers; rather it needs God’s infinite grace and our strict adherence to the protocols prescribed by the scientists. God’s grace is sufficient.

As we notice in Scripture, God has not forsaken God’s people in difficult circumstances and neither will God abandon us today. Amid the devastation, the COVID-19 has brought into the world, God at work. The onset of the pandemic brought upon me and many others extreme fear because I did not know what its implications were for me, when and how it will end, and whether I was going to live God-given life to its fullest. All I had to do was to turn to God in prayer. Many people close to me and far away contracted COVID-19 either recovered or died. I hold them and their families in prayers. I see much grace in how the Lord has kept me and many loved ones safe. This makes me remember how good the Lord dealt with the Israelites when a series of plagues visited the Egyptians and how God saved the Israelites from the Angel of death. I have been healthy throughout. I have had income security and aid has come to me from unexpected quarters. When I thought worship services were never going to return, new ways of worship emerged. For me, God heard my humble cry and gave me grace during the pandemic. I find God’s grace in the life of my family, in good health, stable income, education, fulfilling ministry, and, above all, in my first vaccination. Indeed, God’s grace is sufficient.

Daniel Mensah Awuah is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church Ghana and is currently pursuing his Master of Arts in Christian Education program at Union Presbyterian Seminary