Hey guys! I hope you all are doing great today! The past couple of days have been tough. I have experienced feelings of highs and lows, all trying to make sense of what is truly happening. If there is anything this unexpected season has taught me, is to pull closer to God.
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There is a lot of fear spreading faster than the said virus, I am even about to gracefully bow out from some WhatsApp groups because of the hundreds of forwarded messages being passed around every day. I decided to come on here today, not to spread fear or dread, hysteria or bad news, but to share some encouragement that I have found in the Bible.
How many of you know God is still for us? How many of you know that He is not biting His fingers in nervousness about this, as some of us do? What is adding to the anxiety you are already dealing with? Turn off social media, turn off CNN, Fox News, Youtube, Channels TV and the rest, and open up the Bible to get some hope. The Bible says faith comes by hearing and hearing of the word of God. If faith is strengthened and increased by constant consumption of God’s word, how do you think fear is fueled? By consuming things that have no glimmer of hope in them.
Now I was glad when I found this passage of scripture—Psalm 65:7
“You who still the noise of seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people.”
I was curious to find out what tumult meant; it means a loud confused noise, especially one caused by a large mass of people. This is a perfect definition of what is happening around the world right now, and Psalm 65 says God stills the tumult of the people. This passage reminds me of a story found in the New Testament; most of us are familiar with the story of the disciples of Jesus stuck at sea with Him, thinking that they were going to drown. As deep fear gripped them by the throat, Jesus was busy asleep with His head gently resting on a pillow.
“Lord save us! We are perishing!” (Matthew 8:25) they exclaimed to a sleepy Jesus. Jesus being rudely awakened by His fearful cohorts asked them—why are you fearful? Oh yea of little faith? Then He went ahead to rebuke the winds and the sea and there was a great calm.
What a mighty God we serve! Aren’t we glad that He is not freaking out as we are? If He isn’t then we who are joint-heirs with Christ, shouldn’t either.
Psalm 46:1-3 puts it this way: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling.”
Related Post: Be Still (Part 1) We cannot operate in fear. One thing we have to realize is that we live in a fallen world. Things like this would spring up from time to time. And unfortunately, claim lives with it. I am all for science and technology, and measures put in place to curb the appetite of the terrors that happen, but if we want to have long term effects, we have to put our hope in Jesus Christ. If we think back to the plagues that happened in the land of Egypt, the children of Israel were not affected by it. In fact when people began to die in the land of Egypt, what the Israelites did to distinguish themselves was to cover their doorposts with the blood of lambs (or calves) as it were with their culture. Blood signified the covenant they had with the living God. That was how death passed over them. Now we are even of a greater advantage being that we have the blood of Jesus, which even speaks of greater things, to protect us from every harm. The Bible says in Psalm 91 that if a thousand falls (dies) by your side, and ten thousand by your right hand, it shall not come near you. That was what happened when Pharaoh refused to let God’s people go, God made sure He differentiated between those who were for Him and those who were against Him. Now, this is not to say that bad things happen to people because they detest Him, I am not making that claim. What I can vouch for is that God will certainly fight for you, when you completely surrender to Him and jump on His word. The most amazing thing is that this opportunity is open to everyone. The Bible says anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Another passage says the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run into it, and they are safe.
We need God to intervene, and He is waiting on us to come to Him. While we work tirelessly within the nations to put measures in place to combat this pandemic, let us also not negate the place of prayer, because it is even more important; when we pray He gives us divine wisdom as to how to handle certain circumstances. Believers, let us not operate out of fear if anything the world is watching us right now to see how we would react. Let us be still and know that He is God. Towards the end of Psalm 65, the Bible says—“You crown the year with a bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance.” This is my prayer for 2020.
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About The Author: Evi Idoghor is a Christian, writer, and content creator on Letstalknationblog.com. She is a chemical engineering graduate from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Consumed by her love for writing and desire to effect change, she launched her online platform––Let’s Talk Nation––to tap into her creativity and start meaningful conversations that would make a difference around the world.
Most of her writing has been influenced by her time spent in America, where she lived for about 11 years. Also, she lived in Nigeria and South Korea and currently loves traveling the world while learning about other fascinating cultures. You can find her on all social media platforms with @eviidoghor.