Psalm 71:20 – You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again.
It was 1918 and the Spanish Influenza gripped the world. Richard was four years old and very sick. The small-town doctor told his parents to just lock him in a separate room, don’t feed him, and he would shortly be dead. Not understanding his prognosis, the boy cried and cried, until someone took pity on him and, sneaking in against doctor’s orders, gave him something to eat. Then another person did the same thing. In a few days, rather than placing Richard’s lifeless body into a grave, they brought him back into the fold of the family. He lived a healthy life for 88 years.
He was fortunate. It is estimated that about 500 million people, or one-third of the world’s population, became infected with that virus. An estimated 20 million died.
Modern medicine is far more advanced than what the world knew a hundred years ago. Yet, a microbe, similar in strain to the one of 1917-1918, has run amok, and daily tallies on the news show the numbers stricken and dead across the world. A good report also includes the numbers who have recovered—just as young Richard did.
“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm—my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God who has worked wonders for you.” Joel 2:25-36
Pray With Us
God, You are so mighty. You have the power to strike down the locusts of the Old Testament, and the power to strike down the coronavirus today. And yet, in ways and for reasons I don’t understand, You permit these things to happen to the people of this Earth. I pray today, O Lord, for the families of those who have been struck down by the virus, for those who continue to battle its ravages, and for those who are attending to them. I praise You for those who have recovered—and for those who acknowledge Your hand in their restoration. Bring America back to Yourself through this pandemic. Let all who know You praise You. That includes me. You are mighty and You do wondrous things for Your people. Be exalted in the outcome of this virus, I pray. In Jesus Name.
Amen.
