The Covid Crisis...

"Therefore the Lord, the GOD of hosts, will send a wasting disease among his stout warriors; And under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame. Now in that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. 21 A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God." Isaiah 10:16 & 21-22 NASB Isaiah is my favorite Old Testament book. As I was reading this morning, this passage about the remnant of Israel stood out to me. Before anyone jumps to conclusions, I'm not saying that God has sent Covid-19 as any form of punishment, but there are some points of interest. We all know that God is all-knowing & all-seeing and that He is capable of bringing good out of even disastrous situations (Romans 8:28). We know that God walks with us through difficulties (Isaiah 43:1-3), we know that He doesn't put anything on us that we can't bear or that He Himself has not endured (1 Corinthians 10:13) and we understand that we grow through what we go through (James 1:2-4). What I'm saying is, that we've made excuses for years about not having time to invest in our relationship with God, that we're so busy that we can't spend time reading the Bible, that we can't spend time in prayer, that we don't have time to sit still & listen to praise & worship music so we enter God's Throne Room. Well, with the Corona virus, we're all stuck at home for the most part--except for those who are considered essential. Fortunately for us, my wife & I are both considered essential. She works in health care & I for a recovery program. So, although we are separated by many miles at present because of circumstance, we're both still working & able to pay our bills. Many are not so fortunate. Domestic violence is on the rise and people are concerned about their finances & how they'll pay their bills if this continues. We can't allow the devil to put worry on us, we have to trust God (Matthew 6:25-34). Even if we're still working, we still have a lot of extra time on our hands. How about we use that time to reconnect with God? What if He has allowed this in order to get us to refocus our priorities? We've let work, school, relationships, possessions, hobbies, sports, etc., take all our time from God. God should be first in our lives & we've relegated him to the bottom of the totem pole in our priorities, the last option instead of first place, where He should be. Repentance should begin with the people of God (2 Chronicles 7:14). Once we get our priorities right and reignite our relationship with God, then we can be that lighthouse to point others to Him. There are a lot of lost & lonely people out there who have no hope. We possess an eternal hope that is shareable & that is what we need to do, share it! 1 Corinthians 13, known as The Love Chapter, tells us that it doesn't matter what we posses, the good deeds that we do, the money that we give--none of that means anything if we don't have love for God & love for others. We are unable to give what we don't possess, so we have to work on us first in order to then share with others. We're going to get through this! God has not abandoned us! I don't classify myself any sort of prophet, but I think that God will bring an end to this just as quickly as it began, bring healing & restoration to our land (Psalms 107:19-21) and that we, as a a people will, cease taking Him and our other freedoms for granted, and that churches will be filled to capacity. Rather than being a voice of fear, let us be a voice of faith. Rather than buying into the doom, let us share hope. I'm telling you, we win in the end--the Book has already been written & I've read the last chapters. Don't lose hope. Don't lose faith. Keep your chin up and your eyes on the cross of Jesus. Trust in God & His Mighty Grace! Blessings! Tony