CORONAVIRUS PROTECTION
I don’t have to tell you about the coronavirus fears having a big impact around the world. Just look at the markets and the reduction of travel.
It is completely possible for a person to get the virus simply by contact with someone who has been unknowingly infected.
Is there a way to be protected? I believe there is. It is the same way our family was protected during the 2017 Hurricane Irma. It was the most powerful Atlantic hurricane in recorded history and the costliest to hit Florida. We were living in Naples at the time, in the direct path of the storm. The strongest winds to hit Florida hit Naples, at 142 mph. Predictions were that a 15 feet wall of water would come from the Gulf and demolish much of the Naples coastline.
While much of the city evacuated, our family decided to stay. The place where we were staying was on the 13th hole of a golfing community surrounded by 19 trees and with no hurricane glass in either the windows or the sliding glass doors. While trees went down all around our community and many roofs, carports and windows were damaged, along with some trees falling on houses, the place we were in suffered no damage at all. Not a single one of the 19 trees went down, though many trees all around us went down. Carports were blown away all around us, but ours was perfectly intact. And the 15 feet surge? Around Naples, it was 2-4 feet.
Many believers in Naples prayed fervently for God’s intervention. The steps we took to protect ourselves are the same steps I think we can all take to protect ourselves from the coronavirus. Key among those steps was Psalm 91. Notice some of the verses:
Psalm 91 English Standard Version (ESV)
91 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
Though this passage is for every Christian, I do not believe it applies automatically for every believer. There are things that we must do. First, we need to recognize that God is our shelter, our protector. Not the government. Not our own ability.
Notice the second step. “I will say…” We must verbalize aloud to the Lord the following. “You, Lord God, are my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
And what are we trusting God for? That He will deliver us from the deadly pestilence.
The opposite of trust is fear, so note what the Psalmist goes on to say.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
Job said in Job 3:25 (ESV),
25 For the thing that I fear comes upon me,
and what I dread befalls me.
So, it is very important to not allow fear to grip us even though,
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes
and see the recompense of the wicked.
Now note the conditions:
9 Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—
the Most High, who is my refuge —
10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
no plague come near your tent.
14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
So practically, this is what we did when faced with Hurricane Irma.
1. We declared aloud that we were trusting in God as our protector and the protector of our property.
2. We taped a copy of Psalm 91 on each of the windows and glass doors and declared that we were trusting God to keep them from breaking.
3. We went to each tree and commanded them in Jesus’ name not to fall on the building.
4. In keeping with Jesus’ having rebuked the wind and the waves (Luke 8:24) on the Sea of Galilee, we commanded in Jesus’ name that the hurricane dissipate.
What was interesting is that the weathermen had predicted that the 15 feet surge would happen as the back end of the hurricane circle went through because the counter clockwise winds would whip up the water from the Gulf and bring it to shore. In response to our prayers and I am sure the prayers of many, what had been a perfectly round hurricane circle, suddenly had the rear end of it dissipate and vanish so the strength of the winds coming in from the Gulf were greatly diminished.
5. I said, “Lord, you were willing to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if there had been only 10 righteous in the cities. Naples has a lot more righteous in it, so I ask you to spare the city.”
Let me encourage you, and I am writing to myself as well, to apply Psalm 91 and the authority we have as believers to speak to our mountains and put our trust in our God who is able to save us from the deadly pestilence.
God seems to be giving us more and more favor in the Chattanooga community with opportunities to teach and minister the saving, healing and delivering power of Jesus Christ to those who come for prayer. If God impresses on your heart a desire to partner with us, we would be grateful as all we do is free of charge. Tax deductible gifts can be sent to Sozo Chattanooga, Inc. at the address below.
God bless you and protect you!
Dan and Iara Pinckney
Many thanks to Pastor Pinckney. Let’s heed of his advice.
Sozo Chattanooga, Inc.
3918 Tennessee Ave., Suite 100
Chattanooga, TN 37409
423-648-7696
www.sozochatt.com
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