2 Chronicles 28:22 In the time of his distress he became yet more faithless to the Lord—this same King Ahaz.23 For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him and said, “Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. 24 And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and he shut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and he made himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. 25 In every city of Judah he made high places to make offerings to other gods, provoking to anger the Lord, the God of his fathers.
歷代志下 28:22 這亞哈斯王在急難的時候，越發得罪耶和華。 23 他向那攻擊他的大馬士革的神明獻祭，說：「因為亞蘭王的神明幫助他們，我也要向這些神明獻祭，好讓它們幫助我。」但那些神明卻使他和全以色列敗亡。 24 亞哈斯聚集 神殿裏的器皿，把 神殿裏的器皿都打碎了，並且封鎖耶和華殿的門，又在耶路撒冷各處的轉角為自己建築祭壇。 25 他在猶大各城建立丘壇，向別神燒香，惹耶和華—他列祖的 神發怒。
Just as academic exams test how much we know about a particular subject, God uses times of distress to test how much we trust Him. It is in such times that we show who (or what) we truly put our trust in. As we read in2 Chronicles, in the history of God’s people, good kings and bad kings alike faced times of distress, but what made them good or bad in the eyes of God was which God or gods they turned to. Does the COVID-19 situation cause us to draw nearer to God or to be more distant from God? Do we shut up the doors of the house of God and make ourselves altars like King Ahaz did, or are we like the good kings of Judah who turned to God for help? May we all pass the test and become more faithful to the Lord!
正如學術考試測試我們對某個特定學科了解多少一樣，上帝用苦難來測試我們對祂的信任程度。 正是在這樣的時代，我們顯明了我們真正信任誰（或什麼）。正如我們在《歷代志下》中看到的那樣， 好王和壞王都會面臨苦難的時刻，但是在上帝眼中認定他們好壞的是他們求助於哪個神，他們轉向的是上帝或眾神。 COVID-19的情況是否使我們更加靠近上帝或更遠離上帝？ 我們是要關上神殿的門，像亞哈斯王那樣做自己的祭壇，還是像猶大的好王一樣向上帝求助呢？ 願我們大家通過考驗，對主更加忠心！
吹號者 