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FEAR AND COVID-19

I do not like heights.  My wife and I were driving home one day and we saw men working on a cell phone tower that must have been about 300 to 400 feet tall.   They were dangling by harnesses but they didn’t seem to be afraid.  

I do not envy people who work in high places.   I am reminded of a joke once told by a comedian in a movie many years ago.  He was in danger and was told to climb up to safety, but he confessed, “I don’t like high places. They make me sick. I even get sick when I wear thick socks.”

The natural thing to do when facing fear is to close your eyes and hope it goes away.  Closing your eyes is the natural reaction but the child of God should see past the natural and see into the supernatural, the spirit world.  I know, that sounds easy, but just how are we to expected to see the invisible?   We do it with our “spiritual eyes”. 

The prophets in the Old Testament and New Testament believers faced many fears in their walk with God.   A lot of them died facing fear even to their death but were able to overcome fear with eyes seeing into the supernatural. I’m not talking about visions or dreams, but eyes led by the Holy Spirit teaching them to look beyond the natural and seeing into the supernatural by faith in God’s Word. 

In 2 Kings 6, we are told the story about the king of the Syrian army who planned an attack on Israel but his plans were always spoiled by Israel who seemed to know his every move.  It was obvious there was a spy within the camp who kept Hezekiah, the king of Israel, informed of Syria’s plans to defeat them.  A Syrian army general approached the king and said there was indeed a spy, and it was the prophet, Elisha.  The Syrian king sent men out to find where Elisha was living and they returned with the news that Elisha was living in Dothan, a place about 60 miles north of Jerusalem.   

Now, Dothan means, “two wells” and I believe it is a fitting name for the home of Elisha and his servant.   Symbolically, we could say one well was filled to the brim with water, and the other well was dry as a bone.  The well filled with water represents Elisha filled with the Holy Spirit enabling Elisha to see into the spiritual world.  The other well representing his servant was just a hole in the ground.  There was nothing spiritual about it. 

One morning the servant rose early and went outside to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air but the minute he looked around him all joy disappeared and fear gripped him like a vise.  As he gazed across the countryside all he could see were Syrian soldiers and chariots dressed for battle.  They had come to take Elisha back to the Syrian king at any cost. 

He rushed to Elisha screaming, “Master, what are we going to do?  We’re surrounded by the Syrian army!”   Now, I can’t say this is scriptural but I can just imagine Elisha climbing out of bed, stretching and putting on his shoes, getting ready for his daily routine of praying and meditating.  His servant is dancing on one foot and then the other, his knees knocking together and thinking, “Elisha didn’t hear me and doesn’t realize the danger we are in!”  But Elisha probably walked over to his servant and very calmly rested his hands on the young servant’s shoulders while saying, “Son, don’t worry.  We have them outnumbered.”

The servant must have been ready to faint at this point.  He could count and he was sure there were only two of them, just Elisha and himself.  That just didn’t add up to outnumbering the hundreds of Syrian soldiers and chariots.  Elisha sensed what he was thinking and then prayed, “Lord, I pray.  Open his eyes so that he can see.”   Then God opened the eyes of the young man and looking out beyond the Syrian army he saw an even greater army of horses and chariots of fire!  It was an Army of Angels sent by God to protect Elisha.  Then Elisha asked God to blind the Syrians and God blinded every one of them.   The Syrian army was now helpless.   Elisha led the whole army north to Samaria and later prayed for their eyes to be opened again and God opened their eyes.  Then the soldiers returned home unharmed and very humiliated. 

So, what does this have to do with you, COVID-19 and fear?   It’s all about opening your eyes to the Word of God which assures us that as His children, we are in covenant with Him and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ.   Let that sink in.  You, having asked Jesus Christ to be your Savior, have entered into a Blood Covenant relationship with the Creator of the Universe.  The One who planted the Sun and the Moon, the stars, planets, the galaxies into the heavenly.  The One Who created the earth, created every bit of dust, every rock and mountain, every plant and animal and took a hunk of clay from that earth and made the first man, Adam.  You, a descendant of fallen Adam and destined to Hell have been redeemed by the Blood of the Second Adam, Jesus and are now destined to spend eternity in Heaven!   That is how precious you are in the sight of God.   

It all comes down to this one simple fact:  Whether it’s a fear of getting the virus yourself, a family member, or a friend, or the fear of not being able to pay your bills, fear is not getting you anywhere, is it?   But fear and the stress of worrying does affect the physical body.  It can reduce the body’s immune system and that is exactly what the Devil wants.   

Open your eyes of faith. 

The Word of God says the Devil is the prince of this world (John 14:30) but God is KING and a king always has authority over a prince.  The only way a prince can become king is for the real KING to abdicate or die but the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob . . . . your God, is not going to do either one.  

You may not see them in the natural but in the spiritual realm, there are millions of angels standing by and waiting for instructions from your Father, God.  Nothing on this earth can harm the real you, the spiritual side of you.  Everyone’s body will one day be just another pile of dust.  God may deliver you in this life from harm and again He may not, but it doesn’t matter what happens to the body.  If you are a Child of God, nothing can touch your spirit man and there is a mansion waiting in Heaven just for you.   If the Lord tarries and we are not raptured first, our bodies will one day go to the grave but our spirit will be with the Lord forever.  Here is the best part:  When Jesus returns to earth you will be coming with Him in a new, glorified body just as He was when He resurrected!   That is what you should be seeing with your spiritual eyes. 

Quoting from 2 Kings 6:16, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” (NKJV)   

Open your eyes of faith and do not fear.   Pray for healing for those who have the disease and ask God to open the spiritual eyes of others to overcome fear. 

God bless you.