Eyes on God: Faith During Crisis
This five-week series explores faith and fear during times of crisis, examining how believers can maintain trust in God during challenging circumstances like the pandemic. The study addresses common spiritual struggles while grounding responses in biblical truth.
Series Overview
The "Eyes on God" series provides a biblical framework for understanding suffering and maintaining faith during difficult times (Eyes on God; Lesson 5, 0:35). Each session builds upon the previous, creating a comprehensive exploration of God's character and his relationship with believers during trials.
Week 1: God the Lord
The series begins by establishing God's unchanging nature, his faithfulness to promises, and his mercy toward all people (Eyes on God; Lesson 2, 0:27). This foundation helps believers understand that even in cycles of good and difficult times, God remains constant and will ultimately bring restoration.
Week 2: God Amidst the Storm
This session tackles the persistent "why" questions that arise during suffering (Eyes on God; Lesson 2, 2:03). While acknowledging that Scripture doesn't always provide answers to "why," it emphasizes knowing "who" is in control and what God can accomplish even in the worst situations.
The study examines how pain can arise from three sources: the sins of others, our own sin, and simply living in a broken world (Eyes on God; Lesson 2, 4:37). Even after conversion, believers continue to struggle with sin, as described in Romans 7:15-25, where Paul writes about the ongoing battle between wanting to do good and falling into sin.
Week 3: God Who Hears Our Cries
The third session addresses how fear can come "from without and within and all around," but emphasizes that God never turns a deaf ear to believers' cries (Eyes on God; Lesson 5, 27:54).
Week 4: God Who Responds
This lesson explores how God responds to fear, trouble, and despair with words of reassurance (Eyes on God; Lesson 5, 28:09). Just as God responded to his people in biblical times, he continues to speak through his Word today to calm fears and address troubled spirits.
Week 5: God Who Replaces Fear with Faith
The final session focuses on how perfect love drives out fear (Eyes on God; Lesson 5, 1:44). Understanding this transformation requires grasping two fundamental truths: who we are and what God has done.
Understanding Our Condition
Scripture consistently reveals humanity's universal sinfulness. Ecclesiastes 7:20 states that "there is no one on earth so righteous as to do good without ever sinning" (Eyes on God; Lesson 5, 2:44). This reality is reinforced throughout Scripture, including Romans 3:20, which declares that no one will be justified by works of the law.
The fall into sin created a great gulf between holy God and sinful humanity (Eyes on God; Lesson 5, 6:00). The law serves to reveal this sinfulness - as an acronym, it "SOS" (Shows Our Sin) - making clear that we cannot redeem ourselves.
Understanding God's Response
However, the law is not God's final word. His perfect love is demonstrated through the gospel (Eyes on God; Lesson 5, 7:08). 1 John 4:9-10 explains: "God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins."
Christ's atoning sacrifice bridges the separation caused by sin. When Jesus went to the cross, he took all our sin upon himself, receiving the punishment that should have fallen on us (Eyes on God; Lesson 5, 8:18). This demonstrates God's perfect love - Romans 5:8 declares that "while we still were sinners Christ died for us."
The Gospel's Power
The series illustrates this transforming power through John Newton's testimony. Newton described himself as "exceedingly vile," having lived as a slave trader who not only sinned but actively tempted others to sin (Eyes on God; Lesson 5, 10:52). Yet God's grace transformed his heart, leading Newton to write: "let me not fail to praise that grace which could pardon, that blood which could expiate such sins as mine" (Eyes on God; Lesson 5, 11:38).
This grace is applied through baptism, where believers are "united with what has been accomplished to the cross and the empty tomb" and "washed in the promises of God Almighty" (Eyes on God; Lesson 5, 13:49).
How Faith Replaces Fear
Scripture shows God driving out various things - locusts, demons, merchants from the temple. Similarly, God drives out fear and replaces it with faith (Eyes on God; Lesson 5, 17:20). Even believers can struggle with fear, but God comes to drive out that fear and replace it with trust in him.
1 John 4:18 provides the key principle: "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love" (Eyes on God; Lesson 5, 20:15). Because Christ took the punishment for sin, there is no more punishment left for believers to fear.
Addressing Crisis
Not Divine Punishment
One critical clarification the series provides concerns interpreting current crises. When asked whether God is punishing humanity through the pandemic, the answer is definitively "no" (Eyes on God; Lesson 2, 11:23). Isaiah 53:4-6 prophesies that the Messiah would bear our punishment: "upon him was the punishment that made us whole."
The Hidden and Revealed God
When faced with unanswered "why" questions during crisis, Martin Luther's teaching provides guidance. There is the "hidden God" - aspects of God's sovereignty we cannot understand - and the "revealed God" - what God has communicated about himself through Scripture (Eyes on God; Lesson 2, 22:38). When experiencing the hidden God, believers should run to the revealed God, trusting in his character and promises demonstrated through Christ.
What God Can Accomplish
While we may not understand why God allows difficult circumstances, Scripture reveals what he can accomplish through them. Romans 8:28 promises that "all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose" (Eyes on God; Lesson 2, 27:18). God uses trials to produce endurance, character, and hope in believers' lives (Eyes on God; Lesson 2, 29:50).
Practical Application
The series emphasizes the ministry of sharing God's Word with those who are struggling. Believers who have been "consoled with the promises of God" can comfort others by turning to Scripture and sharing what God says (Eyes on God; Lesson 5, 25:08). Whether someone is troubled by sin, wondering about God's presence, or questioning his power, Scripture provides the appropriate consoling word.
As believers trust in God's Word, "all those things that scare us lose their threat" (Eyes on God; Lesson 5, 24:00). God's love pushes out fear through his promises of forgiveness, presence, comfort, omnipotence, sovereignty, and omniscience.
Additional Insights from the Fearless Series
The church has also explored related themes through another fear-focused series that examines practical aspects of overcoming fear in daily life.
Understanding Fear vs. Being Scared
There's an important distinction between being scared and experiencing fear. Being scared might cause us to jump or go another way, but we move on with our day and life. Fear, however, is crippling - it takes hold of our entire being and controls our daily decisions (Fear Not, 1:00). Fear interferes with everything, waking us up at night and causing physical symptoms like cold sweats and racing hearts.
Fear as a Matter of Trust
At its root, fear is fundamentally about trust (Fear Not, 8:29). Just as trust exercises build confidence between people, our relationship with God involves learning to trust him completely, even when we cannot see the outcome.
The Fear of Inadequacy
Many believers struggle with feeling inadequate for the tasks God has given them. Moses exemplifies this fear when God called him to lead Israel out of Egypt. His response was "who am I that I should go to pharaoh?" (Fear of Inadequacy, 4:54). Similar responses appear throughout Scripture - Gideon claiming his clan was the weakest, Saul protesting he was from the least tribe, and Jeremiah saying he was only a boy.
The solution to inadequacy isn't self-confidence but accepting our limitations. When we rise to the level of our inadequacy, God meets us with his promises (Fear of Inadequacy, 16:13). As Ephesians 3:20 declares, God "by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine."
The Fear of Not Being Liked
Another common fear addressed is the desire for human approval. Paul confronted this directly in Galatians 1:10: "Am I now seeking human approval or God's approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ" (Fear of Not Being Liked, 2:01).
The fear of not being liked often drives us to compromise our faith and seek worldly approval. However, Jesus warned that "if the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you" (Fear of Not Being Liked, 9:36). Rather than seeking human approval, believers are freed to live obediently, knowing they are loved eternally by Christ.
The solution isn't found in self-help programs but in remembering our identity in Christ. Jesus was betrayed, rejected, beaten, and crucified for us - not because we've earned his love, but because of his perfect love for us (Fear of Not Being Liked, 12:49).
The series concludes with the prayer that by God's grace, believers may walk each day with their "eyes on God" (Eyes on God; Lesson 5, 28:31), trusting in his unchanging character and perfect love rather than being overwhelmed by circumstances.