Dearly beloved saints.

It has been a number of months since my last post and as with you, no doubt, many things have happened over the past four months or so.  I have been busy with other projects and have not felt any prompting to contribute to my blog, until today.

These current times in the pandemic and now the Delta strain of COVID-19, are confusing, challenging, alarming and filled with varying points of view and uncertainties. Even for the Christian.

Last night I watched the latest video from two sisters in St. Louis, on their YoutTube channel Tent and Altar.  In it they bravely and vulnerably shared where they are at in regards to the COVID crisis, as they are walking things out with the Lord.  They are clearly wanting to follow His Life and not their own conclusions or those of others around them, not even other believers.

If you watch the video by clicking here,  I would like to encourage you not to judge or criticise but to hear their sincerity of heart and watch/listen right to the end. I felt the heart and voice of the Lord was expressed in love, and particularly in the final conclusion.

As a result of listening, I believe a spiritual seed was planted in my own heart and this morning, a whole new view was opened up to me.

Before I share it with you, I want to say that I know many of you have been ill, have lost loved ones or have witnessed them suffer, through the pandemic. Many of you have and are suffering a great deal.  In the following that I want to share with you, please do not think I am saying that all that pain and suffering is good. No, my heart goes out to you all, it truly does.  Just as I am unable to see my mother and sister because of government restrictions, we are all facing varying kinds of loss and challenges at this time, some much deeper than others.

However, I pray that you will hear the heart of the bigger picture in what I share below.  I pray the Lord, who is the glory and the lifter of our heads, will lift our gaze to see what He is up to…

Every major crisis ushers in a new movement of God.

This global pandemic is a world wide crisis but it will be followed by a new, fresh wind of the Holy Spirit.

In the East of Australia, the August winds come around every year but there is a new wind coming, a fresh wind.

The world and the Church are in a Winter season. This pandemic is a time when God is mining in His saints. He is digging out the precious stones from the dark and hidden, lonely places to prepare them, through pressure and heat, to make them smooth, glossy, shiny and beautiful for His own crown.

All things work together for the good of those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose. This current global crisis is good, in the sense that it is in the sovereignty of a loving God who is using it for His purpose in us, His Church.

The whole globe is in a Winter. During Winter the life of the tree in its sap goes down into the roots. The Church is growing deeper in Christ during this time. For a tree, the Winter is a season of strengthening and preparation for the Spring! It is only because of Winter that the tree is strengthened to bear the new fruit of Spring for the Summer harvest! It is the same for us, the Church, right now.

During this time, the saints are hidden, isolated, separated, on their knees. Many things are having to go to the altar – contact, relationships, church life as many have known it, anxieties, loved ones, confidence, assurances for the future, earthly securities, finances, jobs, opinions, judgments, reputation. You may even be in your own personal Winter apart from the affects of the pandemic.

This is a season of apparent death in so many deep and painful varied ways on a global level. But God is doing a preparing work in His saints! He is making precious stones and preparing for the ushering in of a giant harvest! A global pandemic crisis being the prelude to a global harvest!

Therefore, we can rejoice in this pandemic! We can rejoice and be filled with hope that the living God is in this! He is sovereign over the whole thing. In the sovereignty of God, it matters not how and where the virus started – whether or not it was intentional biological warfare. It matters not if another nation is attempting world domination. It matters not if the vaccines are intended for evil. It matters not if the hand behind all of it is evil. Because God is sovereign! He is above any evil intent, He is above all outcomes, He is above the entire matter.

Take or do not take the vaccine, as you have faith to do it or not to do it, our hope is in God! And God uses all things for our good, for those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose.

Therefore, there is no cause for fear or for holding onto one’s life, there is no cause for despair but cause for praise! Cause for rejoicing! Because the Winter precedes the Spring and the harvest! Be of good cheer, saints. Christ is on the throne and Springtime and Harvest are coming!