Written by Lydia Vasquez
With the entire United States and many other countries shut down and people shut-in due to the coronavirus, I began to think about what God might be saying to the world. Some businesses are considered essential and some non-essential. The ones deemed essential were allowed to remain open while all others were to be closed.
As I thought about these businesses, I couldn't help but wonder what God might be revealing through this. The places that provide entertainment, external luxuries, and comfort have received the label non-essential in my home state. While grocery stores, utility services, some construction businesses, health, and medical provisions continue to remain open as essential.
I wondered if this could be a reflection of people's spiritual condition. Here are a few things I believe God is trying to get us to see through this time of quarantine.
With places that provide food remaining open as an essential need, could God be calling us to take on solid food (meat) and no longer milk?
With the utility companies remaining an essential business, might He be saying that we need to receive the refreshing water of the Holy Spirit and be energized and lit up by His strength rather than non-essential sources being displayed through various forms of entertainment?
Certain construction businesses deemed essential could reveal how important it is for the Lord to work and build in us. As we allow God to use this time of reflection, He can produce in us an infrastructure unbroken by man or the enemy. As we seek Him, individually, in the word, meditating on it day and night, our broken infrastructure can be healed.
The health organizations remaining open might reveal the opportunity we have for God to produce health into our bones and our spiritual body, allowing us to fully awake with strength like a sequoia. As the fire refines sequoias, we must allow Him to refine us in the same manner.
I can't help but believe that the physical reality we are facing is a reflection of the spiritual state of this nation. God desires us to be strong, vital, and intelligent people that love and serve Him all the days of our lives. A people who do not rely on our understanding and ways of the world to live but one that is sold out for Him.
"To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified." - Isa 61:3 NKJV
The song by Hillsong Worship called Seasons reminds me of the sequoia trees and the desire that God has for us to be strong in Him. The growth of a sequoia tree takes time and produces longevity. We, as a people, need to be willing for God to do this growth, individually, in us. I heard someone say revival begins with the individual then spreads. He's not growing quickthorn thorn bushes (temporary devotion only) but trees that will grow strong and last even amid the fire (trial by the fire of Holy Spirit).
“Instead of the thorn bush will grow the juniper, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the LORD’s renown, for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever.” - Isaiah 55:13
Reflect on this song as you ask yourself, are you willing to grow?
About the author
Lydia Vasquez is newly married to Kaleb and is expecting their first baby. She is a school teacher as well as a worshipper and an evangelist at heart.
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