God is Present with Me in a Covid-19 World

God is our refuge and strength, a help in the afflictions that have come heavily upon us.

Psalm 46: 1 (Brenton Septuagint Translation)

It has been difficult this staying at home to stay safe from an invisible disease that has affected the lives of millions of people all over the world at the same time. Never would I have dreamed that in my already single-hood "kind of life" where I had everything so finely planned to spend that quiet time I treasure to do the things I love to do as an Introvert like studying, reading, crocheting, swimming and enjoying a long afternoon drive alone to talk to God...and sometimes to myself would become more isolated than usual. It was all so sudden and unplanned for me as well as some (or all) of you. It has if I may repeat myself, been a difficult adjustment.

However, in it, I have always believed deep in my heart that God would bring some good out of this present day disaster. I feel deeply about those who are sick with Covid-19, recovering and especially for those families who have lost loved ones during this pandemic either by disease or some other type of passing. In a stay at home/stay safe environment of social distancing, even "regular deaths" (no death is "regular" so bear with me), losing a loved one, planning a funeral, deciding who can attend or closing the door to persons who would love to be there to support the family, is at its highest form of grieving well beyond the "regular stages" of grief. My childhood classmate died on last Saturday and there is no funeral and I am now smitten with a personal grief and shocked by the unnaturalness of it all. Entering the stages of grief are more difficult when you can't come together as family and friends to say goodbye. I am weeping with the family and with myself.

Yet...God is still good even in all of this and the daily new normal routines of life I have to plan to keep up my spiritual, mental, physical and social health. Thank God for social media: Facetime, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Internet. You don't feel so lonely when you can reach out with a text message or meet with a group of people by Zoom. I have really been fortified with these online meetings. I am also tapping into other church ministries like New Birth Baptist Church in Georgia and dancing and singing with their praise team has been like going to church! Some ministries as they adjust their services to an online platform are doing better than others, but all are appreciated. What would I do without the Body of Christ, the Word of God and the Blessed Holy Spirit keeping me company? Thank you Lord that you are everywhere - I so appreciate you Jesus!

This Jesus...this Great God Our Father is everywhere and ever-present. That's how I'm surviving in the difficulty of not being able to do my usual routines of life because the Lord is with me and is sheltering me under His Big Arms of Love and Refuge. I feel His touch in the night season and in the morning light. I hear His voice when I prepare to work from home. I listen to His stirrings when He says, "now don't do this or that....or do this or that". It's quiet and that is a good that He is bringing out of this terrible tragedy a love for quietness, a time for reflection, an opportunity to get needed unfinished projects done, a joy in knowing that He is with me in the daily struggles of coping and teaching me new ways to accomplish important tasks and the knowledge that "He will never leave me nor forsake me". He is not aloof or a God that is a far off: He is present, near, a shelter, a strength and helping me to deal with every problem, helping me with my burdens, easing a mind that would otherwise be afflicted with worry and bringing me good success in the midst of the crisis. He is my strong God.

I don't know what you are going through or how you are facing this storm of life that is forever reshaping our lives, but I want you to think about, muse on the God who is alive, sitting on His throne, looking upon you and your every need, a prayer away, a tear away and a cry away. He is present and He is present in His world that He made to stop the storm in His time, to give the cure, to stop the disease and to give us all a new perspective of Him and ourselves and those around us.

My God is Faithful, Mighty and Able.

Love, Verinda

Help!

"Let us, then, hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we have a great High Priest who has gone into the very presence of God—Jesus, the Son of God. Our High Priest is not one who cannot feel sympathy for our weaknesses. On the contrary, we have a High Priest who was tempted in every way that we are, but did not sin.  Let us have confidence, then, and approach God's throne, where there is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it." - Hebrews 4:14-16 Good News Translation (GNT) 

We who have received Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior may embrace this confidence in Our God: He knows our sufferings. He has compassion toward us in spite of our weaknesses. We can tell our faithful Savior all about our troubles. We can speak boldly (and respectfully) to the One who God the Father has appointed to be our "Great High Priest".  

He, Jesus Christ The Son, is sitting at the right hand of God the Father. He, The Father and The Holy Ghost, God in Three Persons, Blessed Trinity are in communion at all times. The Holy Spirit is interceding for us along with The Son of God, Jesus making prayers and intercession for our every need. 

I want somebody, anybody and everybody who is going through some trial, some pain, some hardship, a disappointment, a failure, a sickness, mourning, crying....to know today, Our God knows and He cares. He is there with you and He is with us, ever watching,  ever listening and willing to help us with grace and mercy. We all need the mercy and grace of God daily to live victoriously in Christ.

I write today in the face of this invisible enemy that has encroached upon our lives creating for some fear, for others anxiety and for others distrust that the God of Heaven is watching every encounter and knows what we are feeling second by second. Even now, while we are hunkered down in our respective spaces, God wants to come into that space to comfort our hearts and minds. He wants to join us in whatever suffering we are feeling being separated from loved ones and friends; or the anxiety we may feel in that we cannot live life in the "normal" we knew a month ago and say, "Peace be still". I am learning how to "get along" with not being able to do some of the things I like to do...even going to the pharmacy is a "potential trial"! Daily living has truly changed.

I am asking the Lord to give us all the strength to take it a day at time. Many of us have been taught this adage, but now we must employ it with discipline. "One day at a time, sweet Jesus" is an old hymn that we can use to help us to remember that this season of our life will not be a sprint. I know everyone is hopeful that the pandemic will end soon; but we should prepare spiritually, physically, mentally and prayerfully to stay the course, to take life as it comes, to seek God's direction for small and big decisions, to rest, to not binge on news, to reach out and "touch" someone with a call, to look at the "big picture" and to be good neighbor with any kindness we can give. Even to those we can't talk to right now, to pray for them to be touched by others. That's what I'm doing.

Today, I plead the Blood of Jesus in Jesus' name over my life and over your life. I speak healing and safety, protection and peace. I declare help, love, peace and comfort  to be yours in every situation, need, crisis or trial, right now in Jesus' name. Amen. 

Let us, then, hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we have a great High Priest who has gone into the very presence of God—Jesus, the Son of God. 15 Our High Priest is not one who cannot feel sympathy for our weaknesses. On the contrary, we have a High Priest who was tempted in every way that we are, but did not sin. 16 Let us have confidence, then, and approach God's throne, where there is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it.

Hebrews 4:14-16 Good News Translation (GNT)

Good News Translation - Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society