I had been praying for weeks about what God wanted me to write about in March. I was coming up empty-handed. And then I walked into the post office on Thursday to buy some stamps and happened upon a conversation between the post office clerk and a customer. No one else was there but the three of us. They did not know that I was a Christian too.
The first thing I heard the post office clerk say was, “look up verse 2 Corinthians 1: 8-9. It's is so on point, and it will give you some clarity." I knew in that moment even before I could look the verse up that God was speaking to me. He gave me the verses he wanted me to write about.
When I looked them up, I was stunned because they are about comfort and affliction. It is about what everyone across the world and in the U.S. is going through right now with this horrific pandemic.
But then, I thought a little more and wasn’t so stunned. God’s ways are so whole and infinite, his timing is so perfect, and then I think why am I stunned because this is just the way God works…perfectly.
So, let’s take a deeper look at these verses, 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 (Delivered from Suffering}:NKJV
"8For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead,...”
Paul, the author of Corinthians, is talking about a time that he was in great affliction in Asia. The struggle was so bad that he and others were facing death. The problem was beyond his/their strength to overcome it. So what did they do? They turned to God for help - the one who raises people from the dead.
This was of great comfort to me knowing that Paul and others have been through something like we are going through now. This pandemic started in Asia, as far as we can tell, and has spread throughout the world. It has brought people to death, and it is out of our control.
So what do we do now? We take it to God. We trust in Him to lead us. We pray for His Sovereign help. God did not bring this virus - the devil did. But, God can heal our world/ our nation from it. We can pray and trust the Lord. This virus is of no surprise to Him. He can and does bring us comfort from our afflictions when we turn to Him for help and guidance. He will bring us out of this in His own timing. He does want us to turn to Him in faith and trust. He does want to save us and heal us.
If you read all of 2 Corinthians, it is also about how God comforts us, and we should in turn use that God-given comfort to comfort others. He expects us to love on others, give comfort to others, and pray for others during this storm.
Turn to the Lord in all your afflictions and reach out to Him for his comfort. In turn, use His comfort to comfort others around you. Don’t give up on your faith! This storm will come to an end. Remember, Jesus is the one who walks on water and calms storms.
Be Blessed,
AllisonD
