Understanding the times: Corona-virus

My dear brothers and sisters, calvary greetings. In the absence of a church service, I want to crave your indulgence to speak to you for a few minutes. My address will be in 12 short parts to address several issues but mainly about understanding the times we are in with the Corona-virus pandemic. Thank God that He has already told us that there is nothing for us to worry about.

The first part of Understanding the times with regards to the Corona-virus pandemic is the divine dimension. Haggai 2:6-7 God is shaking the nations. The nations with the best healthcare systems are being made to look like 3rd world nations as the virus has overwhelmed their systems.  This is showing that though it is really good to have great systems,  our trust must never be in our systems but in God. The US has become the epicenter of this pandemic with over 300,000 cases, over 8,000 deaths and estimates of between 100,000 to 200,000 more deaths expected.

The second part is the end time dimension. I have often wondered how the nations of the world will come together and give the beast their power. Revelation 17:13. This pandemic has shown how. In a short period of less than a month, the whole world is under a global lockdown with martial law being declared. Most of us do not realize that we are under a form of martial law at the moment and nobody is complaining.  As a matter of fact, we all welcome it. How the world has changed in a short time. When the time comes, the world will come together very quickly under a one-world government.  As a prelude, some global leaders are already calling for a global body to coordinate crises like these in the future. The pieces are being put in place in readiness for the end time.

The 3rd part is that there is a mass deception going on and hence it is crucial to understand the times and avoid being misled.

Revelation 12:9  the ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him…

So bad that many of us are guilty (including me) of spreading false rumors, baseless arguments like the virus is man-made, it is 5G, etc. Let’s learn to fact check before we join and spread all kinds of baseless fake news going around. This is just the enemy spreading mass deception and making us run around with the unimportant and believing lies.

The 4th part is that these rumors are creating fear. 2 Timothy 1:7. Fear is an enemy and it is a door opener to other demons. Let’s focus on the truth, on the word of God, and not get carried away with itching ears believing all kinds of lies.

The 5th part is the China dimension. The virus was transferred from bats to a man in China. China has been untruthful about the extent of the virus pandemic in China yet China is the one benefiting the most from the sale of ventilators, masks, PPEs, etc. Psalm 75:7. This is a world war and at the end of every world war, some nations come our stronger than others. China is a country to watch post this crisis.

The 6th part is our individual stance. Matthew 6:33. This is a time to spend time with God and repair our altars. This season will last at least until the end of April. It may go beyond but we are all praying that it is shortened. The economic cost to us is significant!!

The 7th part is that as we spend time with God, He will show us things to come in our future. Amos 3:7. Personally, God has been speaking a lot about the future and what steps to take to navigate the challenges ahead. Please listen to God for your own personalized instructions

The 8th part is; how long will this last? Acts 1:7. No one knows.  We are praying for the end of April but that may be optimistic. The medical experts in the US and Europe are saying June or even beyond but may God have mercy on us and shorten the time.

The 9th part is the Nigeria dimension. Jonah 1:2, 3:5. The nation has been wicked from leaders to followers alike but we have responded quickly to recognize that we cannot deal with this pandemic. Our healthcare system is nonexistent.  We have been vigilant compared with the developed nations. In fact, Africa as a whole has been vigilant because we recognize that we don’t have any capacity. May God continue to have mercy on us. The developed world has been sneering at us that our figures are not correct. Please hear this; nobody’s figures are correct. What everyone reports is the reported cases. No one knows the unreported. However, the number of deaths so far is low but rising in Nigeria. Let’s keep praying that it stays low.

The 10th part is that this is both a health and economic crisis. Job 22:29. But if we do our part, we will come out ahead. The USA normally has 250,000 people weekly apply for unemployment benefits but the week before last they had 3.3 million. Last week it was 6.7 million. 10 million in 2 weeks compared with 250,000 weekly average before. The highest they ever had was 680,000 in 1982!! This is an economic crisis. Nigeria is also in a very challenging situation. The oil price has crashed, demand has evaporated, the Naira is under pressure – has already been devalued by CBN. It is an economic crisis but if we focus on God, Job 22:29 will be our portion and testimony.

The 11th part is that this health crisis has been coming in 100-year cycles for a while. Eccl 1:9. 1520, 1620,1720, 1820, 1920 (1918 to 1920 to be exact). The Spanish flu of 1918-1920 killed over 50 million people. We pray, hope, and believe that this one will be much milder than that.

Finally, this is a time to rest, refresh, rekindle relationships (spouse with one another, parents and children, etc.) and most especially with God. If we refresh properly, we will come out stronger and better prepared for the decade ahead which in spite of this crisis will be the best we have ever had.

God bless you all.

Signed: ‘Bunmi Elesho

(posted with permission)