Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder, and president of The Urban Alternative and author of over 100 books, booklets, and Bible studies. The first African American to earn a doctorate of theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, he has been named one of the 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World by Baylor University. Dr. Evans holds the honor of writing and publishing the first full-Bible commentary and study Bible by an African American. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on over 1,400 radio outlets daily and in more than 130 countries. Dr. Evans’ sermons are also streamed and downloaded over 20,000,000 times annually.
These are uncertain days, aren’t they?
There’s a lot of fear, worry, anxiety,
because we’re facing something very
unique, personally, as well as nationwide
and worldwide. This did not catch God by
surprise. Nothing happens in history that
doesn’t start by being allowed in
eternity. Everything visible and physical
is preceded by something invisible and
spiritual. So if you want to understand
the physical, visible and you’ve got to
be willing to investigate the invisible
and spiritual. If all you see is what you
see, you do not see all there is to be
seen. This virus has called attention to
deeper issues. Our need for unity, the
nature of the world and the conflicts
that we face. It’s also brought back the
need for us to serve one another and
resist our selfishness. There are
spiritual underlining causes and cures.
The Bible says that God uses
circumstances to speak and right now
with this coronavirus, He’s screaming and
He’s saying pay attention to Me. Yes,
you’ve got to do the things that will
promote health and well-being and safety.
But you’ve also got to look back to me
because I’m doing the talking here and when
weather gets bad, you check in with the
weatherman because you want some more
information. When life gets bad and the
nation is in trouble and the world is
confused, that’s time for a check-in with
the deity since Daniel four says, “Heaven
rules earth.” And what God is trying to
communicate to us through this crisis
is that he wants to invite us to invite
Him back into our life and into our world.
He doesn’t just want to be a deity on
the periphery, He wants to be centralized
in our heart, in our lives, in our
families, in our churches, and yes, even
in our culture. And so, people are calling
for prayer, people are turning on their
televisions to get hope. They’re
listening to the leaders for direction.
Well, God is saying, “Listen to me because
I offer you a kingdom that cannot be
shaken, a stability that transcends your
uncertainty.” This is the time, while we are
doing all the other things, to draw near
to God. Because when He allows a crisis,
there is always a spiritual purpose
attached to it. James one says God brings
about a trial,
He’s calling attention to something that
you cannot see. This virus, we do not see
but we feel the effects. You don’t see
God but he wants His effect to be felt
because He’s gotten our undivided
attention because He’s allowed us to be
in something that we can’t resolve on
our own. In the midst of this, turn to God,
no matter how uncertain you feel, no
matter how fearful you are, like the
Bible says, when you get anxious, that’s a
signal to pray. Well, let’s call
on God not only for the cure to the
virus but to the cure to our viruses.
Our sin viruses, our rebellion viruses,
the things that has separated us, our
families, and our nation from God. Let’s
get back to the spiritual because that
will have a great impact on what happens
in the physical.