First, I want to apologize for the “our” in the title. There are many followers of Jesus out there that have walked with Him longer and deeper than I have. I would welcome your wisdom. I also have the knowledge that He is the world’s best Teacher and most loving Father, and as Jhn 16:13 says of Holy Spirit ““But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.”
And He has been disclosing some things about Covid-19 to me. And like most things, I hope that it is about everyone else plus me. But, I am not sure, so full disclosure is that it may only be about me.
It is true that Holy Spirit pulled my attention like a magnet to Covid-19 shortly after the first news came out of China. Being a sharp guy, trained in resourcefulness, I started in, … survival. Fortunately, the Lord reminded me of a conversation with a person much more intelligent than I am, and who is a much better systems thinker. The conversation surrounded the H1N1 outbreak. He drew my attention to how dependent on technology and technologists our lives have become. “Sanitation will break down first. How many people do you think it takes to run a sewage treatment plant? And what happens if those 3 guys die?”
I have just returned from the supermarket, the last time that I had been there, was earlier this week. The only things limited then were toilet paper. Tonight, most of the shelves of this major chain store were empty, and limit signs were all over the place. Just in time, works well when people buy normally, and limits spoilage.
So, what did the Lord show me. We worship false gods. We worship technology. We worship medicine. And we worship government. God is going to help me stop that. He is also going to close the distance between me and Him, because He is my loving Father. I can ask Him anything. I can ask for anything. I can totally be His little child.
He has also shown me that He is going to help me with Matt 22:36-40
Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment.
“The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’
“On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”.
I know that I haven’t done a great job with either. But, in this situation, He wants me to love my neighbor. How? Well, for one thing, listening to Holy Spirit as I shop. Am I buying things from love or from fear? Tonight, I asked for help. I listened as best as I could. Even so, when I got to the checkout, I didn’t realize that some of the limit signs applied to a whole bank of shelves. So Tomato sauce, Pesto, and Alfredo sauce all counted toward one 4 item limit. Thank you Holy Spirit for answering my prayer. More pasta accompaniments for my neighbor.
The final thing is that I know in my head, 1 Jhn 4:18 that His love (some translations use “perfect love”, others use “love which has run its course”) casts out the fear. So, I pray that for myself, and everyone else. We need that. Badly. And then there is the passage in Isa 26:3 “You will keep in perfect peace, all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” (NLT) He really needs to work on that with me.
I will leave you with a YouTube playlist that God uses when I am feeling fearful.
Jesus Day by Day 