It’s hard to believe but our nation and world has been dealing with this Coronavirus and all that it has brought to the lives of people for over a year now! As it’s been said “My how time flies by when you are having fun?!?” There isn’t a person alive who has not been somehow personally affected by this virus in some way or another. Some have sadly lost loved ones, some have lost their careers, their livelihood, many are still out of work and not sure if they will have a job to go back to, some have actually gotten the virus and though it has affected people in many ways, they still had to deal with it and the list goes on.

We’ve all had to deal with the wearing a mask rule and the trying to keep the social distancing rule, (let’s be real, we’ve all broken both of those rules) One of the long lasting affects so many in our nation and world will sadly have to deal with for a very long time, if not forever for some, is the fear that has been generated by the media and so many others because of this virus. Please know I am not saying this virus is not real but the control of our lives which so many local and national leaders have gained because of this virus is very real and it will be very hard, if not impossible, for many of those leaders to give up.

One of the bad side affects I see this virus has brought on so many lives, especially in the lives of believers, is that their faith; their belief in the Lord and what He is able to do, has been severely challenged.

We’re all guilty of wanting our lives to run smoothly; free of as much hardships/difficulties as possible. We want the weather to be just perfect if we are planning an outdoor event. When we visit our doctor and they have us get our blood tested, we all want our numbers to be just right. If we work, we want our jobs, those we work with and our bosses to be so wonderful that we actually look forward to going to work. When we sit down to do our bills, we want to discover we have a huge amount of money left in our checkbooks after all our bills are paid. I think you get the picture of what I am trying to say.

My wife is always telling me that I hate to experience any inconvenience of any type and to that I say, who does!! When our life is suddenly thrown off it’s normal path, it tends to make most of us very uncomfortable, ill at ease, anxious, troubled, distressed just to mention a few. The first thing we find ourselves doing/thinking, or at least I do, is that we immediately try to find the fastest and easiest way to get our lives back on track.

This Coronavirus and all it has brought, totally caught everyone by surprise but isn’t that the way most trials, most of the difficulties we face in life do to us. We never see that tragic accident or death of a young person coming. We never see that unforeseen financial disaster that is just around the corner. In our w3ildest dreams we never though that person would ever do that to us, right.

Trials of any type, even as big as this Coronavirus, caught everyone by surprise and the devastating effects have been so bad, many lives will be forever affect by it, even the lives of those who call themselves Christians, followers of Jesus Christ. The question that everyone, especially believers, will need to answer is: do we still believe in the Lord and His ability to get us through this storm.

Psalm 56:3-4 “When I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust, I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?” (emphasis added) Psalm 32:10 “Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in Him” (emphasis added)

When our lives are going along smoothly, with no bumps, no difficulties, no hardships to think of, we need to know that in that exact moment, someone else some where is experiencing the most difficult trial/hardship of their life. Their faith, their belief in the Lord and His faithfulness is being severely challenged.

If you are a believer, where would say your faith, your belief in the Lord stands right about now? Are you still believing the Lord is more than able to do exceeding above what you could ever imagine? Is your praise unto the Lord just as loud, consistent and from the heart as it is when everything was going great for you?

Storms in life come and go. They never come at the perfect time and at times leave some destruction in our life when they leave but the Lord is still the Lord and our belief/faith in Him must remain just as strong as it was the day we asked Jesus Christ to be the Lord of our life!! Still believing my dear friend? Let’s continue to pray for one another for we never know when one of us will be facing the ‘storm of the century!’