PANDEMIC NEW NORMAL IRREGULARITIES

While countries’ Covid-19 casualties increase around the world, it is deeply disturbing & puzzling when religious organisations are still opening up their doors to welcome back devotees to their physical building to congregate during pandemic. No doubt, the world has been enforcing SOP since day 1 of the pandemic, yet the deadly virus still prevail. What are we missing out ? Do not get me wrong, i am a firm believer of practicing SOP, they work.

Some church ministries go online while others offline, and some have both online and offline. They wait for their government instruction to tell them to shut down the church building in the context of lockdown measure. In some instances, families are split over this silly issue. Some go to the physical church, while some stay at home. Those who go to physical church cannot tell whether they have brought back with them the virus to the home, if there is even any. What is the benefit of going to the physical church building when church members have been encouraged to go back as soon as church services end? What fellowship are we talking about here?  Any accountability ? We are no less a Christian, less faithful, or implying fearful if we go online. There are more questions in this article than answer, definitely, with no intention to complain, but to help you and i think, and response to what God wants us to do in this difficult time.

ARE WE TESTING GOD ?

Is this the angle how God wants me to see this situation from ? Warning signs and daily upward trends are so blatant, yet we are remaining unresponsive to safeguard what is important, as if we are testing God. And this reminds me of the devil’s attempt to tempt Jesus. Here is what Matthew 4:5-7 says,  Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’” Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say,

You must not test the Lord your God.

Listen to the following voices, what are they telling you ?

Does this particular temptation not conceal an underlying issue of the pride of life? (FYI, Satan was tempting Jesus on the lust of the flesh, the pride of life and the lust of the eyes. Perhaps daily, 3 similar temptations affect you and i, and around the world). For eons, these are devil’s modus operandi, in another word, his habits of working. What is hindering us from recognising and learning from history ?

Go back to basic, go back to the WORD. It has all the answer you need for this season.

Trust God, not man.

You cannot fully trust God unless you read, believe and experience the Word for yourself, basically, have a relationship with Him. Before ending this message, let these 3 verses speak to you regarding our unwillingness to allow the scale to be fallen from our eyes, our  shortsightedness and ignorance, or what Jesus often mentioned, darkness.

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” John 8:12 NLT

Let’s be wise & be united.

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12 NLT

Stay safe, stay in the Lord.

He is coming.