As we entered the 2nd half of the year 2020, many are desperately asking “is there a light at the end of the tunnel?”. Many people in various parts of the world have been constantly hearing about this crisis for the past 5 months and are weary and tired in their hearts and minds. Solomon wrote in the book of Proverbs, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick”. Many are desperate for hope indeed. Some are taking comfort in graphs and numbers showing a promising flattening. Still many are dreading at the recent spikes in the charts and the talks of the second wave in various parts of the world. Many people are desperately hoping for a vaccine in the later part of this year. There are almost 140 different trials running in parallel. But some experts say there may not be a vaccine for this virus because of the mutation. While this pandemic has given a relief to some countries like South Korea, Hong Kong and other European countries which were once a hot spot, the truth is that the pandemic is still raging fiercely in several parts of the world. WHO recorded that the total number of cases reported in a single day all over the world reached the peak in the 2nd week of July. This means this “fire” is still raging and is far from over.
So are we there yet? Is the end at sight? Is there any good news in the horizon?
Well no one has answer to this question not even the brightest scientist or the most powerful world leaders. But we all can look back at the history and learn from it. History says whenever there was a big crisis it resulted in a “new normal” or a “new world order”. So Covid-19 is not the first crisis to change our “normality”. Take for instance the 911 attacks and the subsequent terror incidents all over the world. The world has gone upside down in terms of security which was never seen before these incidents. There was a fear instilled in our hearts post these terror incidents that we automatically embraced the changes. Heightened security in Airports and public places, bio-metric passports, facial recognitions, checks for liquids in Airports, alerting people about unmanned baggages, safety announcements in train stations and so on. These were not “normal” before the 911 attacks. But we somehow adapted to these “new normal” which became a part of our lives. Another example is the aftermath of second world war which resulted in the birth of United nations that paved the way for globalisation that changed the way our parents lived.
So we are witnessing the birth of another “new world order” or as some say a “new normal”. David Wilkerson once said, “The law of nature always interprets the law of the spirit.” According to the law of nature there is no birth without a birth-pain. Covid-19 could be the first among the series of those birth-pains. This is what our Lord said in Matthew 24:8, “All these are the beginning of birth pains”.
Expect the un-expected
So what can we expect in the days to come? The world never went back to “normality” after the 911 attacks or any other major crises. But we all adapted to it. So let us not wait for “normality” to return as otherwise we will be waiting for ever.
Whilst I don’t want to sound all “doom and gloom”, the truth is if this crisis is the beginning of the birth-pain, we can only expect more and severe birth-pains to come. But this should not be a bad news for those who knew the Lord as it is time for us to reassure ourselves that our God is in control. Joel 2 portrays our Lord being in total control and formidable to the enemies: “The Lord thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty is the army that obeys his command.”
It is not just the Covid-19 crisis we should be concerned and pray about. There are some significant changes in the world happening right before our eyes. These are the political and geographical “tectonic plates” shifting to stage the arrival of the anti-christ as the scripture warns. The increase of divisions in the United states creating waves of hatred and protests all over the world, the 2020 US elections in November which has started to polarise that country and even other parts of the world, Countries like China, Russia, North Korea and Iran becoming more alienated from the Western world and amassing dangerous weapons, the rise of liberalism in the West, the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, the hatred against the gospel by various liberal activists around the world are some of the changes that could shape this new world order in the next 6 to 9 months.
Attempt the un-attempted
So what can we as Christians do? As William Carey said, “Expect great things from God and attempt great things for God”, we the church should rise up and do the un-attempted. The global church should wake up from the status-quo and preach with all might to save the unsaved. We need to give a call to everyone in our community as though Noah is in the last days of finishing his Ark and days away from the first drop of that deluge on earth. Amidst all those catastrophic events described in the book of Joel there is a powerful promise to the Church to remind us that our best days are ahead of us and not behind us as God says,
“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.“
Continuously pray for our families and our dear ones. Psalms 78:14 says, “He guided them with the cloud by day and with light from the fire all night.” He is a God who guides us during difficult times. He is a God who protects us. He is a God who saves us.
Above all, we need to take care of our own soul from falling away. These are times of sifting when the strong will become stronger and the weak will become weaker. The scripture warns us, “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold”. We should do everything to avoid becoming a living proof of this warning from the scripture. Instead we should use every opportunity to get closer to the Lord and hold fast to His word. Let us remember the words of our Lord to John as he said,
“Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.” “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
