“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”
Luke 12:25-26 (NIV11)
Candidly, I am still amazed at how terribly shaken the world has become regarding the Coronavirus and its potential impact on the lives of so many. I am shocked because God, the Creator of the universe who created you and me, has known us from the beginning of time, before we were even born. He knew when we would be born and when we would die. Of that we have absolutely zero control. Now, some might argue we can lengthen our lives by eating healthy, exercising and not smoking or drinking. God knows everything and He knows if we eat healthy, if we exercise, and/or if we smoke or drink. These are decisions we individually make for ourselves, but He also knew long before we were ever born whether we would do those things. Remember what it says in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” If God knew Jeremiah before he was born, He knows you. So, if we fear about the possibility we may die from the Coronavirus, did we get that fear from the Lord?
No!
Go back and read the Book of Genesis and His story of Creation. Nowhere does it mention Adam and Eve were fearful or concerned about “adding” an hour to their life. Do you know why? Because before their Fall in the Garden of Eden there was NO death. Why would they be worried about dying if death did not even exist? But God did create us in His image, meaning He gave all of us free choice. We can elect to sin and go against the Will of God but if we do, we will pay the price which is “The wages of sin are death.” But, He does not want any one of us to perish but to have everlasting life.
“For God has NOT (capitals mine) given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
2 Timothy 1:17
If you have read the Book of Genesis then you know Adam and Eve were created without fear. They walked with God every day in the Garden of Eden. They were in the very presence of God and that did not scare them UNTIL after they sinned by willingly going against His commandment to not eat or touch the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Even though they were created in God’s image and were instructed to not eat the fruit or touch the tree, they were deceived by Satan who told them they would surely not die if they went against the Law of God Almighty. And, what happened to them after they went ahead and broke His Law. They were afraid!
“And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he (Adam) said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he (God) said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?”
Genesis 3:8-11
It was their act of sin which caused Adam and Eve to become fearful. No where in the Book of Genesis does it say God came on them spewing fire at them for disobeying His commandment. Rather, He was walking in the Garden and asked “Where are you?” Of course, He knew exactly where they were! But, He wanted them to also recognize they had sinned and would now “die”. For that they were fearful. The two, sin and fear, are inseparable as long as we do not accept His Gift to us, the forgiveness of sins if we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We owe it to our friends and family to tell them about His Gift!
“Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you.”
Isaiah 35:4
By knowing and understanding this, our fear will flee from us. If we put our trust in Him and ask Him for guidance, He who created us and knew us from the beginning of time will not forsake us.
“And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.”
Psalm 9:10
Does this mean we will not catch the Coronavirus? Absolutely not! In the same way we do not know if we will be hit by a car, have a heart attack or develop cancer, we cannot know when our time is up AND we cannot, as the Lord says, add even one hour to our life. All we can do is believe in Him and accept the Salvation which comes with recognizing the primary message He gave to us in the Bible:
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
Genesis 1:1
“For all men have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
Romans 3:23
“For the wages of sin is death…”
Romans 6:23
“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.”
John 3:16
“He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.”
Revelation 22:20-21
It can’t be any clearer than this! The very first line of the Bible and the very last line in the Bible tell us everything we need to know. We should not be fearful IF we believe in God and the sacrifice of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ for the redemption of our sins. If we don’t believe, it is not too late as of the reading of this post to accept Him and ask for forgiveness of your sins. If you do this, you will escape the coming trials and tribulation which will be far worse than anything we have seen or imagined with the Coronavirus. We will join Him in the clouds at the Rapture and be taken out of harms way exactly as He said in Revelation 3:10, “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.”
All of us should live without fear as Adam and Even did BEFORE their Fall and lead others to discover what we have found through the study of the Holy Bible. Think about this. If we are calm and without fear, many may ask us “Don’t you know about this virus? Why are you not afraid?” Because we Believe in the Promise from Jesus. It is not too late! All who come to Jesus can be saved. I know you have read Psalm 23 many times before but I would ask you to reread it once again, keeping the potential fear in mind you may be experiencing due to this pandemic or many other things. Read it and understand He does not want us to be afraid!
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I WILL FEAR NO EVIL: FOR THOU ART WITH ME (capitals mine); thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: AND I WILL DWELL IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD FOR EVER (capitals mine),”
That is so incredibly comforting and it is our Christian responsibility to pass along to friends and family and all we meet to tell them about His Promise to us. Jesus asked each and everyone of us to do this by telling us to “…therefore comfort one another with these words.” Not my words, but His Word only! You can do it!
May God Bless you as you tell others to not fear all the things He has told us are coming.
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