Going Viral?

Psalm 91: 3

For it is He who delivers you from the . . . deadly pestilence.

Here is what I have to say about and to the coronavirus, “For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand, who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you,’” (Isaiah 41: 13). God has faced this problem before, and He has already spoken to the problem. He tells us to put our trust in Him because He is our shield and refuge. He delivers us from the pestilence. He guards our homes and health. When the plagues tormented the Egyptians, our Father held His people within the shelter of His wing.

Now, if you believe this, if you are with me here, then it is time to pull out what we learned last week from Romans 4: 17 (See the Word of the Day for Tuesday, February 25, 2020). It’s time to speak what you believe. The blessings of God do not rain on you from the sky. They are already yours, yes, but you have to move them from the spiritual realm to your life by the exercise of your faith and your words. This is the critical bit. Of course, you must believe that what God has said is true and that He is well able and willing to back up His Word with His faith and with action, but you must remember that we are in a partnership with God AND that He will not violate your freewill. You can be sick if you choose. You can go to hell if you want. It isn’t God’s will. It isn’t what He wants, but He will respect your choices. So, that means that you must be an active member of the partnership. The blessings are yours, but you must accept them. You must requisition them from the provision warehouse that Yahweh has already stocked for you. How do you know what the inventory is within that warehouse? There is an inventory list. It’s called the Bible and the way you get your order filled is by speaking words which are in accordance with the inventory.  If your words match the inventory list then the order is filled and shipped to your house.

If you fear the coronavirus guess what – you will attract it to you. I am not saying that you will contract the disease, but you certainly will not repel it. Do you remember what poor old Job said, “For what I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me,” (Job 3: 25). That which you focus upon is attracted to you. Then, God forbid that you say something like, “I catch everything that comes around so I will probably get the flu.” Dear One, please don’t confess anything remotely similar to that! Say, “By his stripes I am healed!” Say, “My Father delivers me from every deadly pestilence including coronavirus.” Get a stiff backbone and refuse to receive the curse. Stand in the blessing. Go read the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy and claim the blessing for you and your household.

Be healed, be whole. Reject the pestilence and remember the Word!

Upholder

Isaiah 41: 13

“For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand, who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’

Fear is pervasive. There is no one who has not been stung by its tentacles. Still, Father says we do not have to live with fear, nor should we. Because He is our Lord and God, much less Father, we have a means to overcome fear. He has promised He will never leave us forsaken. He will not leave us to our own abilities. He is bigger than that which frightens us.

Imagine having the genie of Aladdin’s lamp as your friend and helper. If the genie said to you, “Do not fear, I will help you” would it give you confidence? I think it would. We have lived with these fantasy stories until we have an understanding of the genie’s power. It is an amazing phenomenon. There is no such thing as a unicorn but each of you just pictured one when you read the word.

Unfortunately, we do not know Yahweh Father as well as we do these fictional characters. Still, you can use your understanding of a genie to interpolate God’s power. Just picture, for a moment, what it would look like to have God following you around all day upholding your right hand. Every time you encounter an obstacle or fearful situation, He says to you, “Don’t worry. I am right here. I will help you.” Can you actually see that in your mind’s eye? It is a comforting image, is it not? Now, what if you held that image in your mind all day? What about every day? Would it grow your confidence?

Our Father is trying to move into our lives and become our best friend. He wants to be a constant help in our lives but it can be difficult for us to connect with Him. That is where we need to spend our energy, connecting with Him. Then He scares away the monsters in our lives and energizes us for the journey. The time we spend reading our Bible, praying and even just contemplating God, helps us to draw nearer to Him. Then, because we are in Him, there is no fear. There is faith and comfort.

Let your Dad scare away whatever is fearful. Let Him guide you through the valley of the shadow of death so that you arrive on the other side unharmed and unafraid.