What our nation and people individually are going through right now has been a setback. It’s been a setback to our economy. It’s been a setback to people’s finances, businesses, children’s and students education. It’s been a setback to our social lives as well as church life as we knew it. Everyone has experienced a setback in one or many personal and practical ways because of this pandemic. Many people are also questioning the validity of all the orders that are in place and the control the government is exercising over our lives and their overreaching authority. There are conspiracy theories, some of which, have much validity, especially knowing that there are those who are trying to push us towards a global socialist society while destroying our present economic success under President Trump. It definitely has its concerns, for sure.
Yet, in the middle of all that is taking place in our world, my challenge to all of us at this time is to keep a spiritual perspective. I believe that even though this has been a setback for many families, businesses, and our economy, what this really is, is a setup. I believe that God is setting us up for a supernatural move of His Spirit that will come in the form of revival in the Church and a spiritual awakening among the lost. As difficult as our circumstances are, God is taking us through a refining process. Refining is never an easy process. It’s painful, but God has something incredible planned for his Church that will impact the country. Rather than looking at just trying to get through this season, waiting for life to get back to normal, we need to recognize that God is trying to do something during this time in our lives and the life of his Church.
Like I’ve mentioned in previous articles, this is a time of awakening for the Church that will bring a spiritual awakening to our cities and country as well. This is a time where we need to seek the Lord in repentance and for a fresh move of His Spirit. This is a time that we need to seek the Lord like never before and get serious about our sin. God is shaking us to awaken us from our apathy, complacency, mediocrity, lukewarmness and passivity in our lives. We can no longer be casual in our attitude toward the sin in our lives or the sin we see around us. We can no longer be casual toward life as we’ve known it any longer. We can not be content with “business as usual”. This is a season of cleansing and seeking God personally, passionately and intentionally. It’s in this process that God will bring about an awakening among his people in the form of a revival that will result in an awakening throughout our nation and a harvest of souls.
I believe God is calling us to a season of repentance and seeking his face. It’s a season of consecration for us, His Church. Though these are challenging times, I’m excited about what God has planned for our future individually, corporately and our country. Even when this ends and we come out on the other side, we can not return to life as usual. We need to keep pressing into God until we see an awakening take place in the Church and our land.
Isaiah 35:3, 4 says, “Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you'”. Do you have feeble hands or week knees or know someone who does? In other words, do you feel powerless or know of others who are? Help those who feel powerless in the midst of this present pandemic. Who are those that you can be a resource of help and hope to? Are you one who has a fearful heart? We can strengthen our hands, steady our knees and have strong hearts if we seek the God who gives us strength. God says to “Be strong; do not fear; your God will come…he will come to save you”.
Just like other areas of life, every setback is a setup for a comeback. God is setting up his Church for a comeback that impact the world for him. The time is coming when the Church will arise and shine like we’ve never seen before. We can’t look at this as a difficult time to just get through, but that God has a purpose he is trying to accomplish in his Church during this time because of what he want to accomplish through his Church in the days that lie ahead. That is the perspective we need to keep during this present pandemic. No matter what your personal setback has been, get ready, your comeback is on it’s way!