A Few Of The Lessons I Have Learned From COVID-19
By Bruce Cannon
Mitchell County
COVID-19 has been a great teacher! It has shown us that our ways of life can change quickly and completely. Normality ceased weeks ago and now we are dealing with new norms: isolation, a school in the home, layoffs, shortages in the grocery stores, and how we do Church.
A few of the things I have learned from COVID-19 are:
1) Do Not Take Things for Granted. Did I do that? Have we done that? Did we get complacent in our way of life? Did we take the Lord for granted? Did we take worship for granted? Did we think corporate worship would always go on? How I miss that! How I miss the hugs and handshakes! How I miss the choir anthems, solos, and the sense of the presence of God when we worshipped Him! While I am thankful for being able to use technology to get the Message out, I deeply miss being together while worshipping!
2) So many wonderful pastors in the U.S. have all related COVID-19 to the coming storms that will occur during the Tribulation Period. How many times has Matthew 24:6-8 been quoted in the past few weeks: “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”
Dr. David Jeremiah in a recent message said that COVID-19 is not a precursor to the Rapture of the Church. He stated that there was nothing that had to take place before the Lord comes for His bride; that the Lord could come today with or without COVID-19. COVID-19 would be more related to the plagues and pestilences that will begin taking place immediately following the Rapture. That seven-year period, known as the Tribulation Period and lasting seven years, will be characterized by cataclysmic war, famine, disease, and so forth.
Growing up on the coast of North Carolina caused Wendy and me to experience many hurricanes. When the actual storm struck one would experience hours of 100+mph winds. Houses would creak and groan, trees would be blown down and tremendous damage done to the property. However, the day before the storm struck weather conditions would begin deteriorating as feeder bands from the storm came over. These were much weaker than the actual storm and would consist of heavy winds and rain but were nothing compared to the actual storm.
COVID-19 is not the storm! It is only a precursor of what the actual storm will be when it hits. Thankfully, born-again Christians will not be left on earth to experience the Tribulation Period. But we will experience the conditions that lead up to it. Will there be more COVID-19 viruses before the Lord comes? Will COVID-19 be a recurring problem such as the flu? Some think so.
What should we do? What must we do? Sow the Word! Beg God for a harvest of souls! Identify ourselves with the sins of our Country and beg the Lord for forgiveness, mercy, and help. America worships every god known to man and that is the one thing the Lord will not tolerate. America is also guilty of ignoring the teachings of the Word in censoring the Bible, prayer in Jesus’ Name while approving porn, aborting babies, and same-sex marriage.
How we need the Lord’s blessings! How we need to practice II Chronicles 7:14 for Him to hear our prayer, forgive our sins and heal our land.
How we need to pray for our local, state, and national leaders that they would understand that the Lord is the answer to all of our problems. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He alone can lead us back to Himself and place us in a position where He can bless us, protect us, and provide for our needs again.
Pray with me that COVID-19 would cause a tremendous turn to the Lord and that genuine revival would sweep our nation. Grant it Father, we pray, in Jesus’ Name! Amen!
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Reverend Bruce Cannon currently serves as the Senior Pastor of Bear Creek Baptist Church in Bakersville. Formerly he served as Director of Missions for the Bladen Baptist Association and he has served on the General Board of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.
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