Wow, all I can say is what a wild and crazy couple of weeks we have had in the world. This particular virus that is going around this world of ours is not like anything we have seen….ever!! Everywhere you go, down the street, next door and etc., there is always talk of this “act of God” that is going around that is trying it’s very best to shut our country, this world, and our way of life down to the very core of our nature. Many people around me are completely not used to the ongoing spread of fear, panic and uncertainty that is paired with this virus, and what is more shocking is the unpreparedness and lack of understanding of how to deal with this process.
While it may seem that this type of panic can be considered normal at this stage of the viral manifestation, we as believers in Jesus Christ clearly have a different view and perspective of what is going on. Most importantly, we should never let the demonic spirit of fear even enter our minds and thoughts. Those thoughts of hopelessness can only come from a single entity, and that particular entity was defeated 2000 years ago on the cross where Jesus bled and died for us to defeat any type of ungodly manifestation, including fear.
I know a lot of pastors when they have done sermons during this time of world trouble have used common verses and passages of scripture including Psalm 91 has widely been used as a great passage of scripture to give comfort and hope to believers in this time of crisis. However, for the purposes of this blog, I want to go a little deeper into the matter and find some other passages that are not commonly used but just and hopeful and encouraging.
- Psalm 46:1-3 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
This tells me no matter what type of struggle this earth and this world throws at believers, God is 100% in control of all matters, natural or man-made. Any believer in the umbrella of Jesus and his love and care can rest assured and know that all control is his and has the keys to move any mountains that are in front of us. His children are known to him, and God already knows that protection is 100% feasible.
- Nehemiah 8:10 Do Not Grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
The first thing that Satan wants us to do is the very last thing that our heavenly Father expects us to do in any form of tribulation. Worry and grief, let’s be honest, and spirits created by our enemy to shackle and bound us from emotional and physical freedom. God never created us as his children to enter into any type of a defeated form of bondage. We are overcomers of those bondages by Christ and the joy knowing that we are created in his image which is of a conquering lion that has already overcome any type of fear and bondages that is meant to harm us.
- Psalm 34:10b Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
Throughout my time on earth, I have seen many catastrophic acts that I know have crippled lives around me, and even this country as a whole. As believers in Jesus, the best and honestly most effective defense mechanism that we have against any form of tribulation is to block out as much of the world as possible and to passionately seek the Lord Jesus and his face. Either through prayer, worship, meditating and/or reading through the bible, seeking his face give us the ultimate hope that our Father in Heaven has got this and will get us through any storm with flying colors.
As I was writing this, a good friend of mine named Tim “T.K.” Klund posted a great message about this virus and what is going on in its current state. He posted that in many countries right now as we speak, they are on the back end of the virus and most people are now in recovery mode. As the United States of America, we need now just to cooperate with our leaders to combat this virus and its terrible effects. But also as believers, we also need first off, have the confidence to trust in our Lord and Savior and his process to combat this, but also at the same time be a light to all of those around us who have been affected physically, emotionally, and spiritually by this plague that some are calling an “Act of God”. Personally, our God is bigger than even the act he creates.