The eager and earnest expectation of God doing good things for me-The looking up to the heavens, awaiting His voice for direction, His hand to deliver and His wisdom for counsel. It is my fuel for each day; my reservoir to find the strength to hold on to the dream, even when it seems bleak and there is no chance to get there.
Today I choose to speak on hope, as a follow up to the earlier post fear-not, a response to the panic and fear that envelopes the world in this moment. As of today, 11 201 people have died to the virus; families have lost patriarchs and matriarchs, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters and to those who are grieving in this moment, my sincere condolences. It cannot be easy to conceive of hope or being fearless in such a moment, and I know I risk sounding insensitive with some of my words – but it is a risk I will take knowing that it is God’s words alone that bring life, healing and restoration. And this even being when at first they seem to hurt us first.
So first and foremost; Corona virus is not the will of God for anyone. Hebrews 1:3 describes Jesus Christ as the express image of God, the perfect represantion of His being; and in the Life of Jesus, Acts 10:38 says he (Jesus) went about doing good, healing all that were oppressed of the devil. At no time, did Jesus impart sickness on anyone for any reason whatsoever, and if Jesus is indeed the perfect representation of God, then no, it is not God’s will for anyone to be sick. Romans 5:12 tells us that the entrance of death in all its forms, sickness included, was only because of the sin of man.
The sin of man means we live on a fallen earth, where we find sickness, disease, death and poverty etc as opportunistic consequences of sin. Heaven, the place where God’s perfect will reigns there is none of this and the beautiful thing is when we are taught to pray, Jesus tells to say “let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Which I read to mean let sickness, disease, infirmity, curses, poverty, death be conquered on earth as they are in heaven; let everything that the devil creates and sends be conquered here on earth as it has no place in heaven. Knowing this, I therefore have a first reason to hope – no sickness, Corona Virus included is the will of God for any man.
The second is this; my God is well able to protect from disease. Exodus 15:26, He says “i will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians; and in Jeremiah 32 vs 27, God asks the question “Is anything too hard for me?” And if we do doubt, the record He has of delivering is unparalleled: He led a nation of around 2 million people to cross a sea on dry land; He sheltered them a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day and 40 years in the wilderness, not a single one died of hunger – only their refusal to trust Him without condition was their biggest downfall.
Any other nation would have died, any other people would have been gone without a trace; but not the Lord’s people-they lived, their clothing did not wear out and without planting a single crop for 40 years, they thrived. And furthermore remember, that even in slavery the blessing was such that amongst God’s people, there was not a feeble person (Psalm 105 vs 37). Therefore again I repeat from Psalm 91 (Brackets and emphasis mine): “Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare (Corona) of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence (Corona). 4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night (Corona); nor for the arrow (Corona) that flieth by day; 6 Nor for the pestilence(Corona) that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction (Corona) that wasteth at noonday.
But what if I have it already? Doesn’t the disease have no cure? Maybe in the realm of what is possible with man there is none, but not with God. You see, Jesus underwent a very brutal beating of stripes to purchase our right to health. In Isaiah 53:5, it says He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities and by His stripes we are healed. In His life, Jesus demonstrated this to the point where it became known that merely touching His garment would result in the outflow of life and healing to those afflicted (Mark 6: 53-56). In Acts 10:38, it says he went about doing good-healing all who were oppressed of the devil, and in many other places it specifically talks about Jesus healing all who were sick (e.g. Matt 15:30, Luke 4: 38-41) and I have confidence that even for those who are sick today, His desire is for them to be made well for He is no respecter of persons but rather the provisions and promises of Him as the lamb of God are for all of us without qualification.
It is my prayer therefore that wherever this blog is being read, life is being released into people’s bodies; that diseases are being healed and curses broken over peoples lives. It is my prayer that were it isn’t that God would send His holy angels with a healing touch to the sick, hurting and afraid and also that His presence that transcends fear and terror is bringing a calm to His people in the middle of the storm. It is the prayer of my heart that in this time thousands upon thousands encounter the Prince of Peace, in dreams, visions and visitations and that His touch upon their lives begins one of the greatest revivals we have ever witnessed in History. It is my prayer that His will be done on Earth as it is in heaven; and therefore I have hope.
What about those who have lost the battle, who have breathed their last? For those who have died in Christ, I believe their testimony is the same as that of Shadreck, Misheck and Abednigo before Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel Chapter 3: “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us[a] from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
Because you see, death for the believer is a transfer out of this world into the presence of Christ for Eternity-where there is no sickness, death or disease which as Paul aptly said in Philippians 1 vs 21, “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.” There is no need for the believer to live and walk in fear of death; yes it is an enemy, but the last one to be defeated (1 Cor 15 vs 26) but in the day that is today, to be beaten by it is not an end by any means but the beginning of an eternity uninterrupted in the presence of God-an eternity we who believe shall all have a part in, where the sound of praise and glory resounds from every tongue and every tribe to our one, wise and true God who is seated in the heavens without an equal in the heavens above, on the earth below or even underneath it.
Selah