By Jerry D.
The world is living in troublesome times with the devastation of the coronavirus. History has recorded many catastrophic events that have taken place such as wars, genocides, terrorisms, famines, wild fires, floods, droughts, tornadoes, earthquakes, pestilences, etc. Throughout history the age-long question has always been “Why?” Some would even appear to blame God when stating, “Why does God allow these things to happen?” Simply stated the answer is in the inspired Word of God—the Bible. However, mockers, scoffers, and non-believers in God will ridicule that answer because “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good” (Psalm 14:1). Proverb 26:12 says, “Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him.”
The answer to “Why?” is simply, are we obeying or disobeying God?
Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known. (Deuteronomy 11:26-28)
God will do or allow things to happen in order to get our attention so that we will repent of disobedience and turn back to Him.
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)
Accepting the answer to the question of “Why?” is the answer to the question “What is the Cure?.”
But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him. (Habakkuk 2:20)
Fortunately, some will seek the shadow of the Almighty while unfortunately, some will continue in the shadow of the worldly. Consider the analogy between Psalm 91:1-6 and Isaiah 30:1-3:
(Psalm 91:1-6) He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. (emphasis added)
(Isaiah 30:1-3) Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin: That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! [Pharaoh / Egypt represent those and the things of the world rather than seeking God’s ways; that is, wise in their own conceit]. Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. (emphasis added)
And consider the following verses (emphasis added):
Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings.” (Psalm 17:8)
Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. (Psalm 31:20)
Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast. (Psalm 57:1)
In order to be in the secret place or shadow of the Almighty rather than in the shadow of the worldly, a person must be in very close proximity to the one casting the shadow. Consider the hymn by the anonymous author, Just A Closer Walk With Thee
I am weak but thou art strong;
Jesus, keep me from all wrong.
I’ll be satisfied as long as I walk,
Let me walk close to thee.
Through this world of toil and snares,
If I falter, Lord, who cares?
Who with me my burden shares?
None but thee, dear Lord, none but thee.
When my feeble life is over,
Time for me will be no more.
Guide me gently, safely over
To thy kingdom shore, to thy shore.
Just a closer walk with thee,
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea.
Daily walking close to thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.
There is no closer walk with the Lord Christ Jesus than having the assurance of forgiveness because of trusting in His death, burial, resurrection, and His shed blood on Calvary for your sin.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.(John 3:16-18)
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9)
It is comforting in both the pleasant times and the not-so-pleasant times to know and claim the promises of the Lord God Christ Jesus. He knows who and where you are, and He is never any further away from you than your next thought of Him.
But in every nation he that feareth [respect] him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. Acts 10:35
Let your conversation [every day live style] be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (Hebrews 13:5, emphasis added)
Jerry D. is a 77-year-old volunteer chaplain to nursing homes, jails, and senior living apartments.
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(photo from bigstockphoto.com; use with permission)
I believe that wearing a mask is making one a member of the “group or one of the “in” people. It is like a cult. There is quite a market out there for designer masks. One for all occasions from casual to black tie. It is for control. Also wearing a mask all day can make one very ill. I walk around the store and everyone who is masked does not wear it correctly. It is a weapon to make the wearers sick inhaling their own germs as well as other germs. Some wear them on their mouth or their chin or around their neck and they are constantly pulling at them and touching things and then tugging at their face mask and some pull theirs down to talk on their cell phone. I shop at grocery shops where wearing the mask is optional.
2nd thess 2-3 let no man deceive you by any means
for that day shall not come,except there come a falling away first,and that man of sin be revealed the son of
perditon.come quickly lord jesus
I totally agree with Steve and Bobby ! That is exactly what is going on ! People are rolling over to this, not realizing our constitutional rights are being taking away from us. This is Satan at work to destroy our rights and liberties that our country stands for. Fearmongering from media and over- inflated coronaviris numbers is the problem. I’m not de- bunking the virus , but in all actuality influenza and other illnesses have seemed to vanish away. Remember, Satan is out to kill, steal, and destroy and that’s what is really going on. But we as Christians know, that God wins in the end. In the meantime we must stand strong and know that this is Satan ” at work “
Some time ago, the Lord began emphasizing to me these words of Jesus, “Of whom much is given, much is required.”
America has been given so much by the Lord — much more than the vast majority of nations — yet as a nation, this country has been so rebellious against Him. Virtually all Supreme Court decisions from the early 1960s on have been cold-blooded acts of rebellion against Him.
The Bible says that Christ Jesus will judge all the nations, and I believe He has shown me that America is ripe for judgment. I believe that 9/11, this virus, and other things have been warnings from Him.
I pray that Bible-believing Christians will heed His promise in 2 Chronicles 7:14, will obey His call to humble repentance and prayer. He is our only hope!
The One World Government (Communism) is again testing the world to find out how close they are to taking over the world. Satan has been very busy the last 200 years. World war 1, World 2, the Russian Revolution. Communist Russia killed 66 million people in their take over. China killed over 80million people when Communism took over. The French revolution killed most of the rich leaders and Catholic priests. Cultural Marxism has attacked the Church, Culture, Nation, Race and Government. America is now being tested to see how we react to Losing are freedoms!!! Christians ALL over the World need to Preach the Gospel. John 3:16 Read today! Awaken America! Awaken Christians!!! Do not look for signs Look for The Lord Jesus to come and take us home!!!!
Very perceptive, Bobbi. You have nailed it. This is the fruit of a sound mind. Satan’s agenda is working well. He has used this pestilence to bring the worldly under a strong delusion.
I don’t see the virus as punishment for disobedience. The world has been through many such events in the past; were they all also for disobedience?
There have been and will always be hurricanes, floods, viruses, etc etc – which are all due to the fall and sin, not direct disobedience, in my opinion.
Could it be chastisement on Christians? Maybe, but only if they were more adversely infected. Is it punishment on the world? That doesn’t come until the wrath of God is poured out in the tribulation, from I see.
“The world is living in troublesome times with the devastation of the coronavirus.”
The world is definitely living in troublesome times, but it’s not because of the coronavirus. Sure, it’s a real virus. However, the government has used it as an opportunity to seize our civil liberties. The economic impact of what the government has done will have a much more devastating effect than the virus itself. Deciding who is essential and can feed their family versus who is not essential and cannot feed their family is not up to a governmental entity. Originally, the idea was to “flatten the curve.” That has been done. Actually, the original models predicting the number of deaths has been greatly inflated. Yet, here we are still practicing “social distancing” and there are those who insist on wearing a mask. However, not only do they want to wear one, they insist you’ve got to wear one to for “safety.” That’s what the Nazi’s would say to convince the German people to be anti-Semitic and the German people were complicit. A lot of Americans are complicit as well. I call the masks the pre-Mark of the Beast as some places now say people cannot shop at their place of business without one, and most people are fine with because it’s for your “safety.” So, no, I would not say the coronavirus has caused troublesome times. I would say that our government’s little dictators and the willingness of the American people to not think for themselves has caused…