Thanks to the Corona virus aka Chinese virus aka Wuhan virus, large parts of the world are under some sort of lock down. Many countries and officials have been quick to lock their countries and cities down. Some have increased surveillance and imposed rules not related to the Corona virus. But it appears that economic fallout and the difficulties inflicted on individuals especially the migrant workers of India is often greater that the purpose of the lock down. This reveals the tendency of man to control others whenever an opportunity arises.
From the Bible we see that God does not control, force or manipulate people. A creator generally controls his creation and God having created man has the right to totally control man. But in contrast Jesus tells “behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him” (Rev 3:20). The Bible says about Jesus that “all things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3 ESV). Yet Jesus does not force His way into our lives, even the Christian who has professed faith in Him.
The devil is unlike Jesus and tries to manipulate situations and force his ways in our lives. Unlike gentleman Jesus gently knocking at the heart’s door, “the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8b ISV) and “he was a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44b). Murders often happen when one is unable to force the other person to do or give something but the murderer refuses to give up.
Sadly most of the world is patterned after the devil. Governments force unfair rules on its citizens, bosses control the employees, parents try to control children, children the parents and even churches control the congregation. I have seen a lot of control in the Laymen’s Evangelical Fellowship (LEF). The leaders, especially the Daniels, try to control whom you marry, who you are friendly with and even which city to live. If you do not toe the line you can be sidelined, treated like a pariah and even publicly criticized in their meetings.
The world says control is great but King David said “Your gentleness made me great” (Psalm 18:35b ISV). So instead of patterning ourselves after the world and the devil, we need to pattern ourselves after King David and Jesus and do what the Bible teaches. How can we who have been influenced by the world become gentle? By coming to Jesus as He said “Come to me, all of you who are weary and loaded down with burdens, and I will give you rest. Place my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest for your souls” (Mat 11:28,29 ISV). Then as we live in the Holy Spirit, we will bear fruits of which gentleness is one (Gal 5:22,23). Then there is no more room for revenge and control as Romans 12:19-21 (ISV) says, “do not take revenge, dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written, Vengeance belongs to me. I will pay them back, declares the Lord. But if your enemy is hungry, feed him. For if he is thirsty, give him a drink. If you do this, you will pile burning coals on his head. Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.” Thereby we can truly follow Philippians 4:5 (LEB) “let your gentleness be made known to all people” and crush the spirit of control out of this world.
Understand the truth 