Why The Numbers Matter

Seven billion. That is a large number, but it is also the number of people that have been affected by COVID 19. No matter one’s stance on the issue, every person on the planet has had their lives touched by this virus. John Hopkins University has created a coronavirus tracker, and here are just a few of the statistics that they have compiled. Total confirmed cases1,260,104. Of those cases 331,151are in the United States. Only 258,588 have recovered. Of those that have not recovered there have been 68,413 people that have died. The total deaths of Americans now sit at 9,441. You can see how these numbers change on a daily basis by visiting https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html. My friends, the numbers matter.

About two weeks ago I started a Facebook page entitled Job: An Invitation to Trust God’s Wisdom. The site was originally started as a way for my Sunday school students to stay together and discuss that week’s teachings. Since then, it has turned into so much more. As of a few days ago, the page has reached 100 likes and followers. The thing that I find most interesting is not that we have achieved that goal, but that out of the number of followers a good many of them are pastors and denominational leaders. What started out as a way for people to stay in touch has also become a place for God’s anointed to come to find encouragement.

Please allow me, for just a moment, to specifically address this group. Pastors, I know that right now is a difficult time. This time is difficult for so many reasons. The world that we live in is hurting more now than at any other time that we have lived through. This pain has come to the world at large, but it has also affected the lives of your churches, and it has even affected your personal lives. For, perhaps the first time in history, the church building doors will be closed on Easter Sunday. I know that must hurt you because I know how much it is hurting me. However, please take heart, you are not alone.

I wish I was saying that you are not alone because there are people around you to lift you up. But, unfortunately, that is simply not the case at this moment. For the foreseeable future social distancing seems to be the only way that we can truly fight this horrible evil. What I am saying is that we are not the first ones to be in this situation. I again turn to the book of Job. In the second chapter we are told that Job’s physical maladies were so bad that he had to distance himself from others. In Job 2:8 we see Job scrapping his sores as he sat among the ashes. There is a good chance that Job was sitting in the city’s dump, as the only way they had to control waste was to burn it.

What we get then in Job three is this man cursing the day that he was born. He wishes that the day had not even existed on the calendar. No, Job is not talking about committing suicide, but his pain and agony are so great that he simply wished he did not even exist. I know from personal experience that ministry is one of the hardest things that a person can ever do, and that Job’s pain becomes all to real for us. That is one of the reasons that I am not pastoring now.

The loneliness was often too much to bear, and I found it was easier to walk away than to continue alone. So, please know that in those moments of despair there are a lot of other pastors that have felt exactly like you do right now. In the nineth chapter of Job, we see Job making a bold request of God. He states, “If only there were someone to mediate between us, someone to bring us together, someone to remove God’s rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more. Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot” (Job 9:33-35). Job longed for someone that could stand in the gap between him and God. He longed for God to hear his case. He was not asking for a mediator for the forgiveness of sins. No, he wanted God to understand the depth of his suffering. Job’s magic number was one.

One person was what Job was asking for. If there was one person to hear his case, then he believed that his suffering could be lessened. Pastors, you have such a person. We all too often think that Jesus is there to only mediate the case for our sins before the Almighty Judge. However, how often do we remember that He is also the one that stands in the gap between us and our loving Father when the times of suffering are far too great? I hope and I pray that during these dark days that you can press into God more than ever. The lives of your churches depend on it.

Let me please now call on the congregations that are represented on this Job page. Believers, our churches and our pastors need us more now than ever. Just because we might not be meeting corporately does not mean that the Church has closed shop. It is quite the opposite. Please listen to me when I tell you that this world needs us more now than ever as well. No, the work of the church is not over, it we must work harder than we have ever worked before. We need to find ways to reach out to our communities. Start with helping those in your church that might not be able to do things for themselves. Then turn to the neighbors that are around you. If each one of us were to give back to our pastors, our churches, and our cities then I believe that we could do greater good than we have before, Who knows, maybe, just maybe, the dark days might not seem as gloomy.

Never, in my dreams did I think that the Job page that was created would end up reaching as many people as it has, and I certainly did not foresee it reaching the audience that it has reached. However, I am truly grateful. It is my hope that I can continue being the Lord’s faithful servant. In the end, yes, the numbers matter. There is one mediator between us and our Heavenly Father. He is Christ Jesus. The other numbers matter as well, for they are the number of people that the Lord is calling on us to reach for His glory. May the grace and peace of God be with you my friends.