"..suffering is as much a gift as the trusting" - Philippians 1:29 (MSG)

One of our former President's Theodore Roosevelt once said:

“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.”  

Recently many people have suffered the loss of businesses, jobs, Church Buildings are closed, and some have even lost loved ones due to the Coronavirus.  

We have had a lot taken away from us recently. Yet, this suffering has encouraged a growing trust in the Lord in ways that could have never been imagined just a few short weeks ago.  So we are left with the question, “what does this mean for us in the long term?”

“If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!” 

2 Corinthians 4:7-12 (MSG)

After the 911 attack, many people felt hopelessness and fear; many went to churches in droves for comfort and support.  It took just a few weeks before the droves began to dwindle, and life ended up returning to normal.  
What happened?  

The churches, in general, were not equipped or prepared for the trauma expressed by so many, it was church business as usual from a platform of an old religion that was detached and impersonal, there was nothing to keep the people going back to Church long term.  There was no fresh manna (a word from the Lord) offered, just stale old bread that had no benefit or relevance.  This isn't to condemn the established Churches at all, but stands a call to be prepared for what's coming, Jesus is coming!

There is a lot presently going on in our world; the Coronavirus has effected entire populations of people in the Western world and has stirred people on a global scale.  My Cousin Tara astutely shared this on Facebook on Tuesday:

“In three short months, just like He did with the plagues of Egypt, God has taken away everything we worship. God said, "you want to worship athletes; I will shut down the stadiums. You want to worship musicians; I will shut down Civic Centers. You want to worship actors; I will shut down theaters. You want to worship money; I will shut down the economy and collapse the stock market. You don't want to go to Church and worship Me; I will make it where you can't go to Church."

"If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)

Maybe we don't need a vaccine; Maybe we need to take this time of isolation from the distractions of the world and have a personal revival where we focus on the ONLY thing in the world that really matters; Jesus.  Start the revival in your home...Spread the Love of Jesus.   Tara”

Sometimes we just need to make lemonade out of lemons; instead of going to Church, worship gatherings in homes are being recorded and live-streamed everywhere.  Here is the Church in action, reaching out on a global scale and worshipping and proclaiming Jesus as never before.  

This YouTube video on the left is one example of a "Socially Distant Worship Club" that is being streamed live on Fridays at 2 pm on YouTube from Ireland and will be recorded for later viewing.

I find it exciting to see new and creative ways of joining with the world community of Christ, not just our neighbor's next door.  Once this virus has peaked and is on the downhill slide, we will be able to reach out once again to our local neighbors and have the opportunity to live the life of Christ before them.

Stepping into the sufferings of Christ is realizing that He wants to be everything to us when we give Him our lives, it means that we have a connection to His heart.  We grow in passion and understanding of the desire for His kingdom to be established on the earth, but it first comes through us from a manifestation of the life of Christ revealed in us.

Everything on this earth was created by Him and for Him that He would be recognized and receive the glory for His creations.  We tend to ascribe man’s intelligence to his creations, but who gave the inspiration and intelligence to create and build?  All things come from Jesus.

“We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the Church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.” 

Colossians 1:15-18 (MSG)

So as we experience social distancing and other means of separation from others either by either Job loss, furlough, or sickness, keep in mind that Jesus loves you and hasn’t forgotten you, He knows you by name, and you are precious to Him.  He made you and has a much bigger plan than just social distancing. When this is over there will be ample opportunity to reach out to others with the love of Christ.  

I am sensing a change coming, a revival of the heart and Jesus will be doing the work in us on a deeply personal level, showing us who Jesus really is and what He wants to accomplish.  

This type of revival is presently happening in countries like Iraq and Syria, where Jesus is physically appearing to many men and women and is revealing His desire for them to follow Him in spite of the risks.  He becomes tangible to them, not just a story of a man in a book.  This type of manifestation is unprecedented but not unexpected, according to the scriptures.

We need a revival of this sort to come to America and capture the hearts and minds of our people without all the distractions that so effectively occupy our minds.

Be Blessed;

Stephen Barnett