COVID-19 Pandemic || Can Anything Good Come Out Of It? by Precious C Philip

God always has a peculiar way of bringing out good things from evil occurrences orchestrated by the devil. If you will stop panicking and being afraid, you'll be among those that'll have a good testimony to share after this plague is over. What if God is using this malady from the devil to draw your full attention back to Him? To restore the good relationship you had with Him? To give you another opportunity to repent from your sins and live ready for His return? To give you another privilege to accept Jesus and spend eternity in Heaven? To reconcile you back to Himself? To restore the sweet fellowship you had with Him before you idolized His blessings on your life -before you made the blessings He released on you become idols that you have placed above Him (your job/work, that side income/business, that career, that promotion He gave you, that overseas contract He gave you that lets you travel frequently, that admission He gave you, that business idea He gave you, etc). Look on the bright side. See the beautiful thing God is doing using this calamity. For all things works together for good to them that love God and are the called according to His purpose. 

All of a sudden, jobs, career, traveling, pleasure, football, clubbing, making money, outdoor activities, parties, education, outdoor ceremonies/events, no longer matters. God is all that matters now. God is now on the lips of everyone, even on the lips of those who previously said there is no God. Everyone has suddenly realised there is God. Everyone is now looking up to Heaven and depending on God for safety, healing, restoration, and protection.

When God says in Romans 14:11 "As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God." Do we now realise how real that statement is? When the Scripture says this world will one day come to an end and the earth and everything on it will be burned up (see 2 Peter 3:10), do we now realise that that will indeed happen, since a small virus can cause this global earthquake that got almost all nations shaking on their knees. Fear this God! Worship Him in truth. Serve Him indeed. Live for Him. Respect and honor Him. 

Christians who were chasing after money before now at the expense of their relationship with God and fellowship with other believers have now realised how foolish they were. Many rich people have contracted this virus and died as a result of it. Did their money save them? Did their money protect them from this virus. No wonder Ecclesiastes 7:12 says "Wisdom and money can get you almost anything, but only wisdom can save your life." Never place money above your fellowship with God. A particular country's airport authority issued a statement listing all new requirements needed to enter the country amidst the pandemic. Some group of people landed at the airport having all these requirements (which cost lots of money to meet), yet they were denied entrance into the country and were told to stay at the airport for close to two weeks until the pandemic is over. Did their money help them in this situation? Money is limited in the help it can give its possessor. Please learn from this, never pursue or "hustle" for money at the detriment of your fellowship with God. Money will disappoint you. But God never disappoints. "Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment." 1 John 6:17

COVID-19 is bringing people back to what really matters on earth: your fellowship with God and your fellowship with other believers in Christ. Everything man used to replace this, every idol, everything man considered more important, everything man gave more priority to and pursued neglecting these two things have suddenly vanished: job, side jobs, education, career, traveling, pleasure, night clubs, parties, friends hangout, football, cinema,... What is remaining now is your personal fellowship with God in your closet and your fellowship with other believers (via the internet).

It is weird to see how some people think this is a period to abuse, criticise and attack pastors. Please don't join them. This is seriously a dangerous time to do so. The wise thing to do is to engage in sober reflection, examine yourself and make sure every aspect of your life is in harmony with God's commandments. Those abusing pastors are not without sin themselves because using abusive words on someone is a sin (see Ephesians 4:29). When you judge others and focus on their shortcomings to publicly shame, mock, ridicule and humiliate them, you are sowing a seed you will reap its harvest, because whatever a man sows, that he shall reap also. Leave judgement for God and work on your own shortcomings. This is a time to right your wrongs and prepare to meet your Creator, because it's either you live or die. If you're going to be exempted from this virus or contract it and recover, you need to be in good terms with the Giver, Protector, and Sustainer of life- God Almighty. And if you're going to contract this virus and die from it, you also need to be in good terms with God Almighty to be able to spend eternity with Him in His kingdom after death. Don't joke around with those who think this is a time to find faults, cast blames, mock pastors, criticise churches, abuse leaders or even question God. God is the Supreme Being. He does what He likes. He is not accountable to any of His creatures. So you have no right to question Him or ask Him questions. 

Prepare to meet your Maker -either while still alive or after death. Like I said in one of my posts on COVID-19, Christ's return is imminent. Thus, you need to prepare to meet Him. If the rapture happens at this period, you don't want to be left behind. Don't be distracted by distractions here and there. Focus on God. Work on your relationship with God. If you've been living in sin before now, or your relationship with God has been broken, this is a great opportunity to return back to God in holiness and sanctification. Return back to the path of righteousness. Open your eyes and see the beautiful thing God is trying to achieve and work out in your life using this plague the devil has introduced into the world. Because no matter what the devil brings, God will always have a way to use it and work out a great testimony. 

As you're staying at home, don't use this free time (especially if you're a backslidden Christian or a Christian still living in sin) to indulge in more iniquitous acts; use it rather to reconcile with your Maker. Use it as a time to deal with and overcome any dangerous and sinful habit you may be battling with, like watching pornography, masturbation, fornication, smoking, drinking, womanizing, lying, gossiping, etc. Please don't use this precious time to engage more in these things or even develop more ungodly habits. Use it rather to shed all ungodly habits and develop godly ones. Deal with that habit of lying. Deal with that habit of gossiping. Deal with that habit of masturbation. Deal with that habit of fornication. Before now, you used to give the excuse that you don't have time to address these things, but now you have been given plenty time to overcome them, so that after this crisis is over, you'll live a new life. Don't spend this whole period liking and commenting on pictures and posts on social media, reading updates on COVID-19, or just playing games. Take advantage of it to do something worthwhile that you'll be proud of when everything returns to normalcy; like reading a book (communicating the right knowledge, please), signing up for an online course, writing a book, or any other productive thing. Please don't spend this season watching movies only; spend more time praying and studying the Bible to know God more, spend more time communing with God, speaking in tongues, and reading edifying materials, articles or books online to build your faith, build your consciousness of divine presence & divine protection, and to build your knowledge of your real identity in Christ -and so - dispel all fears, anxieties, worries, panic, and hopelessness.

Fellowship more with God in worship and praises. Pray to God for the plague to end. Dwell more on the things of God. Don't spend time reading every news on COVID-19 because you want to stay abreast of the situation, it'll only ignite fear in you, give you high blood pressure and make you sick. Don't let fear kill you before your time. Don't let fear introduce sickness into your life. Focus on God. Tune in to the word of God and messages that boost your faith. When you tune in to the world, you have fear. But when you tune in to the word, you have faith.

Also try and reach out to those around you who may be in want and in lack as a result of the ongoing crisis. Look for positive things you can do in the lives of people. Reach out to people with the gospel of peace and love this moment. Don't try to take advantage of people and steal the little money they have. Don't hoard foodstuffs. Don't inflate the prices of goods in high demand presently. 

This pandemic has not come to stay forever. It came to pass like Ebola virus once came. Be strong and have faith in God that this boisterous storm will not take you along with it, you'll stand firm and overcome. 1 John 5:5 says, "And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God." So, to overcome this storm, you need to have faith in God. Being afraid is actually disobeying God because He commanded us not to fear nor worry. Practice what Philippians 4:6-7 commands "Never worry about anything. But in every situation let God know what you need in prayers and requests while giving thanks.Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." You'll know you're practicing that scripture when you're no longer worried and afraid. Because when you have truly laid all your cares, concerns, fears, anxieties, and worries unto God, you'll have absolute peace. If you don't have peace and rest of mind yet, you've not truly laid all your fears upon God. 

Don't recite Psalm 91 out of fear, with fear, or in fear, otherwise, it may not work for you. Don't read Psalm 91 and hold on to it with one hand while using the other hand to engage in sinful practices, otherwise, the divine protection and exemption promised in that Psalm will not work for you. That is why I first said you must first make things right with God and repent of every lifestyle of sin, then Psalm 91 can work for you. However, you also must take time to carefully read, understand, and meditate on the promises of Psalm 91, so the truth in it can enter your spirit to dispel all fears you have and build faith in you. You also need to stay conscious of these promises given to you by God; this will ward off every kind of virus and disease flying around. 

Finally, please cast all your cares upon God for He cares for you. Cast all your cares about this COVID-19 upon God and go to rest. Don't worry about what to eat, pray and trust God to provide. Don't worry and fear that your foodstuffs, toiletries and provisions might finish before the virus disappears, pray and trust God that it wouldn't. "Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you."1 Peter 5:7 

Shalom!