Graves Into Gardens
Elevation Worship recently announced the name of their new album “Graves Into Gardens.” They released their first single with the same name as the album, and it is full of powerful lyrics. The second part of the bridge says, “You turn graves into gardens, You turn bones into armies, You turn seas into highways, You’re the only one who can.” The theme of the song is that God is an expert in taking what is broken and turning it into something beautiful. This is a truth seen time and time again in Scripture and I believe it’s a powerful principle for us to hold on to during this Covid-19 crisis. Yes, there are a lot of unknowns at the moment. Will the economy collapse? Will we lose our jobs? Will I get sick? But in the midst of all of that, we must ask ourselves, “Can God take this broken situation and make something good out of it?” The Bible time and time again tells us the answer is, “Yes!”
Joseph, Job, and Jesus
Three of the most recognizable names found in the Bible are Joseph, Job, and Jesus. What these three people hold in common is the fact that God turned their “defeat” into victory and used it for His glory. Let’s look at Joseph first. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, falsely accused of sexual misconduct, and unjustly thrown into prison. But Joseph’s story didn’t end in loss. In fact, God used Joseph’s misfortune to set him in a position to rule over all of Egypt, to be reunited with his family, and to protect Egypt from a massive famine. Reflecting on his journey, Joseph said to his brothers, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” Genesis 50:20 (NKJV) God turned Joseph’s hopeless situation into something good.
But what about Job? Job was a man who had everything. He was rich, he had a wife, many children, good health, and plenty of friends. All of a sudden, everything that he had was stripped from him. I mean that quite literally. Job actually lost everything. His wealth, his family, and his health. His friends remained alive, but they quickly became his adversaries and accused him of sinning before God when Job declared that he had been righteous. But after serving God and walking in obedience, God restored double everything that Job had lost.
Finally, we have Jesus, the greatest of these biblical personalities. Jesus suffered much “loss” and “defeat” to make way for victory. Though Jesus has had a perfect, divine nature for all of eternity, he also became a man. Jesus never stopped being divine, but the God of all creation willingly subjected Himself to an additional nature that can get hungry, feel sorrow, be tired, be spatially limited, and everything else that comes with human nature. It was basically subtraction by addition. Jesus lived out his ministry without a lot of money and declared that He had nowhere to lay His own head. His own people, the Israelites, largely rejected Him and did not recognize Him as God. Finally, Jesus was rejected by the chief priests and the people, He was crucified, He suffered, and He died. But it was through this suffering and death that Jesus brought victory. Through the incarnation and the cross, Jesus defeated sin, death, and Satan for all of eternity. Humanity can now be made children of God and receive eternal life because of what Jesus did. Although the shameful cross looked like defeat, God can easily use what is broken for His glory.
So what does this mean for us?
So what does all of this have to do with the Corona Virus and all of its consequences? Well, when we take a look at how God likes to work, we can find hope. Yes, the Corona Virus looks bad. Yes, the fear of losing your job is very real and valid. Yes, the economy slowing down is not a good thing. But, I know a God who time and time again takes what is dead, what is messed up, and what is hopeless and uses it for His glory. What if the Corona Virus turns our nation back to God again? What if the vulnerability of all of this softens the heart of a friend or a co-worker and they get saved? What if social isolation provides much needed time with God and with your family? Or what if God is able to do something far greater in each individual’s life than we can imagine, no matter the circumstance?
I know this is scary. It may even get worse. But my God turns graves into gardens, bones into armies, seas into highways, and I know He will do it again. Take heart and have faith. What the enemy means for evil, God turns it around for our good.
