Elmira Seventh-day Adventist Church

Yesterday I saw a headline about the Corona virus. For some reason the headline jumped out at me. I knew the Lord was speaking to me so I was still for a moment and just looked at the headline: "COVID19 death rates increase." I don't write that to spark fear. I just know that in that moment the Lord was trying to speak to me.... I grabbed my Bible next to me and saw it was bookmarked to 2 Corinthians. I looked at the headline again and this is how it jumped out at me: CO VID 19. I thought well maybe the CO is talking about the book of Corinthians. So I opened up my bible to 2 Corinthians. I looked up the verse 1:9. And when I saw it, I couldn't believe it! This is what it says: "Indeed we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead." Man!! Did you get that? How many of you have been relying on yourselves? Have you been relying on your ability to stock up on food? On your ability to provide for your family? How many of you have started to leave God out of the equation a bit more out of fear and worry? God is using this to show us not to rely on ourselves but to rely on Him! His power! His provision! His promises! God is using this to break off pride and fear and to instill complete trust in Him! But wait.... there is more! The word "vid" is in the very middle. I decided to look up the meaning of it. Guess what it means? It means to see. What if God is asking us to SEE that He is still in the midst of this? He hasn't forsaken us. His promises are still YES and Amen! As scary as the world may appear to look right now, I encourage all of you to release your fears to Him. Don't rely on your power and your ability to get by. Seek Him wholeheartedly. The word corona has a definition of a crown. But it also has another meaning that says "what surrounds you." If you look at what surrounds us today, it may look like it is not pretty. Lack of supplies, long lines, scared people, closed buildings, etc. But let's not lose focus that in the midst of this, God is here. And He will never leave us. He surrounds us like a shield. He surrounds us with His glory. "And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the glory that will never fade away." Thank you friends, for reading this post !

God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son! John 3:16 We as Christians know this text very well. Love your Christian life every day. Do not hide it in a closet, and don’t have worship time only on Sabbath! God loves you!