Seek God In All Things
As I write this word (01/02/2020), the world is on high alert as there is an outbreak of a new virus called ‘Coronavirus’ that began in Wuhan, China. This virus is infecting and killing many worldwide. Mark and I had been following the statistics vigilantly and the virus was beginning to make its mark known with new cases appearing all around the world. The world was in a state of worry – face masks and disinfectant were disappearing off shelves quicker than they could be stacked all over the world. In light of this, my question to Mark was, ‘how much do we worry’? What precautions do we take? Do we go about our business as normal? Do we avoid airports, airplanes, trains and train stations and places where it can be harboured? Reports show that the virus can stay alive on surfaces for up to five days and be contagious for up to fourteen days from a carrier of the virus before they are aware they are even sick. This could mean that in the three weeks before all flights from China were suspended from coming to New Zealand that thousands of passengers could have entered New Zealand who were infected and be boarding our buses, trains, supermarkets etc.
I had recently made plans with a friend to catch a train to meet up with someone whom we were to minister to, and I was hesitating whether to go on the train or not. I was already suffering with a number of ailments which make life very unpleasant and the last thing I wanted to catch was this virus which can cause pneumonia, nor did I want anyone I loved to be infected either. I felt that trains would be a place (if there was any live virus) to be harboured and easily spread. I spoke to my friend and she believed that we could go anywhere amid this virus and be fine as we were Christians and God was protecting us. It then posed another question for me, ‘does the Bible say that God will protect us from all things’? There are many scriptures that talk about God’s protection, His provision and His blessing so in hindsight we should trust in God and not fear. My friend had experienced God’s protection many times in her life as had many others but I still wondered if God is protecting Christians from all things why then are so many Christians suffering with so many things around the world (including myself who is still waiting for healing), and have been for many years? I admit I suffer with fear and anxiety, and foreboding is an issue with me so I tend to overprotect and over worry, which I know is not putting trust in God, but are we really to be so trusting in God that we believe we are bullet proof and can do anything without fear in the belief He is protecting us from everything? My understanding is that we are to trust God in all things but I also believe there may be people who may not act with wisdom by taking unnecessary risks by putting themselves in harm’s way under the assumption nothing bad will ever happen to them because God is protecting them from all things.
I scoured the Scriptures to see what the word said about being careful and to not take Gods protection for granted. This is what I found; Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God (Matthew 4:5-7, KJV).
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world (1 John 5:8-9, KJV).
The word vigilant means to be cautious.
Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end (Proverbs 19:20, KJV).
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction (Proverbs 1:7, KJV).
Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all (Psalm 34:19, KJV).
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (John 16:33, KJV).
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16, KJV).
In regard to these Scriptures I believe we need to find a balance. We should not fear, and trust God in all things, but it is wrong to assume that we won’t suffer tribulation and that God will protect us from everything. If we give a foothold to the devil we give him opportunity to afflict us. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting (Galatians 6:7-8, KJV). In light of this I decided to seek God and get direction about ministering the following week in regard to the concern about the Coronavirus and me using the train. Straight away I got a word and in the word I got told that it was inevitable that most would catch this virus and for many it would be mild. I got told to take the train and God would ensure that I and my family would only experience it mildly. At the end of receiving the word I got asked a question and the question was “Did you like this word?” I replied that I did like the word as it was reassuring that I and my family wouldn’t get affected badly by this virus and that we could now go anywhere and do anything without fear of the virus. In that exact moment I felt a tangible peace that went right through my very being. I never got that knowing (where your spirit witnesses with His Holy Spirit and you know deep in your knower that it is His voice), but the reassurance and the peace was so strong I initially accepted the word.
The next day I was uneasy again. Was that really God? I never got the knowing when I heard the voice speaking to me which is what I always look for. I only got the supernatural feeling of peace wash over me and this gave me reassurance that everything would be alright. Not long after discussing how I felt with Mark about how I felt the word may have been from the enemy I got sent unprompted an article from a friend who felt it would be of benefit for me and knew nothing of my worry. The article was about David and how he never did anything when going in to battle against the enemy from his own wisdom or past experience. He always sought God for His strategy before going into battle and waited on God for instruction. I knew this word was meant for me.
I sought God again and told Him I wasn’t sure if the word I got the day before was from Him as I didn’t get the knowing, just peace and this time I got the knowing that comes with His voice when He speaks to me. This is what I heard “You received this word, yet it was not My voice. You know My voice – your spirit witnesses with My Holy Spirit when I speak. Your sensitivity enables you to discern between the voices. You have a discerning spirit. This is My gift of discernment in action. The more time you spend with Me in My presence and in My word enables this gift to grow. Don’t let feelings cloud your judgement. I can give you a supernatural peace when needed but the enemy can too. They are similar but differ greatly when you know how to discern between the two. My supernatural peace comes with a knowing – the enemy’s peace comes without the knowing. You did not get the knowing with that word - you just felt peace. The enemy gives you supernatural peace to send you on the wrong path. Coronavirus – I will not let you get touched with this virus. I am your Father and you are My daughter – I will protect you. You are right to take precautions. There is a fine line between ‘believing I will protect you from all things’ and ‘knowing I am with you in all things’. I am with you in all things – always! I will never leave you nor forsake you. Sometimes I allow you to go through things for a purpose. I also watch to see how you will respond so I can bring out your strengths and weaknesses so I can use them both for My Kingdom purposes.
Other times the enemy has a foothold in your life through sin which means the open door to the enemy is a blockage which prevents you from receiving from Me. In all cases stay close to God – cling to Him in the midst of the storm. Listen to His voice – learn His voice so He can guide you out into the calm. In regard to Ministry nothing has changed, continue as you are. I am with you in all things. Whether you take the train, or do not take the train I am protecting you. There will be many plagues being released in this time. In regard to these things there will be times I caution you to refrain and not proceed, and other times I advise you to go ahead. I am protecting you and your family. You are in the perfect will of God – you seek Me in all things and are exactly where I need for you to be. That does not mean I want you to enter disease infected terrains under the guise I will keep you. Seek Me in all things before you go your way so I can go ahead of you and prepare the way. I have the perfect plan for you. The coronavirus will not affect you. Fear not! Go in peace – My perfect peace for I the Lord have reassured you – not with feelings but with My voice and you know My voice because your spirit witnesses with My Holy Spirit that it is I who speaks to you. Look for this always.”
I then asked God what the purpose of the counterfeit word was from the enemy. The words were similar, and both gave me peace and reassurance. He said, “It was all about telling you the right things that you wanted to hear so you would look for the peace and rely on this feeling instead of the peace that comes with the knowing. It was a new strategy of the enemy”
After this He reminded me of something that happened with my husband and his business and how important it is to seek Him for direction in all things. For over a year our business (we own an online computer business) has been very slow. Sales have been almost non-existent and finances are tight. Mark runs this business from home and has been doing so for the last eighteen years. The website was old and he decided it was time for an upgrade. He prayed for God to send him the right website developer and when he felt he had found the right one enlisted him and a new website was built. It was very expensive and just before and after this time sales slowed progressively. Mark and I always pray for protection and for God to bless our business. Recently the Holy Spirit impressed upon me that Mark had made the decision to employ a web-site developer and create a new website but had never sought God about this and went ahead in his own wisdom to do so. He had prayed for God to show him the right website developer but he had not prayed about whether it was the right thing to go ahead and even create a new website. I suggested to Mark that He apologise to God for making plans and decisions without first praying about it and giving it to God. After this I felt that Mark should put a prayer request on his parent’s prayer chain asking people to pray. Sales have since picked up expediently and that was almost three weeks ago. God also showed Mark some new strategies to boost sales. God explained to me that when you just go ahead using your own wisdom and don’t seek God for direction when you have important decisions to make you are not allowing Him to go ahead and prepare the way for you. This means you can hit turbulence and unnecessary speed bumps until you get back on course and enter into His perfect plan and path for you. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths (Proverbs 3:5-6, NKJV). Part of trusting in the Lord is seeking His direction before You enter into any new plans for your life. Seek Him in all things.
(PRAYER) – “Father God in Jesus name I repent for following my own plans, paths and direction without first consulting You beforehand. I repent for making important decisions and not allowing You to be part of the decision making process. I repent that I did not wait for Your peace and knowing before I proceeded ahead with any plans. I renounce all counterfeit peace and pray that You would protect me from this. I ask that You would go ahead and prepare the way before me and lead and guide me into the Godly plan and path for me. If I have stepped off Your Godly path I ask that You would always gently nudge me back on. I ask that You would always lead and guide me away from all harm, danger and evil. I repent for assumption – assuming You were protecting me from all things when Your word clearly says ‘You are with me in all things’. I repent for the times I blamed You for not protecting me when I entered into things in which I had no business doing so. Thank You that You work all things together for good to those that love You and are called according to Your purpose (Romans 8:28). If there are things in my life and in my families lives that hinder Your love and protection please reveal these things to us so we can repent and remove them from our lives. I pray for Your protection for myself and my family in Jesus name against all the things that seek to harm, kill and destroy. I rebuke all viruses, bacterial and fungal infections in Jesus name and I declare that no plague will come near my dwelling. These things I pray in Jesus name, Amen.”
(Please Note) – IMPORTANT UPDATE (21/03/2020) - The advice from God to me now in regard to the coronavirus is to go into lock down and avoid going out as much as possible. I believe I heard from God and He told me that He is talking to the Government and putting things in place to protect the people. Mark, myself and the kids all prayed and sought God and we got that it is time for all to think of others – the weak and vulnerable and not be selfish and avoid public places and the risk of transmission as much as possible. He told us to obey the government in this time. The government is putting in these practices to protect people from catching the virus – although 80% of people only get mild symptoms – the rest can get serious problems and need hospitalisation whilst others can die. He also told me that the world will not listen and things will escalate. Eventually He will stop speaking to the government as they will stop listening to Him and they will be ruled by antichrist – which will be caused by the people not listening to them and obeying their rules. This will eventually bring in one world order and the mark of the beast system. The bottom line here is to think of others and reduce the risk of transmission. Most importantly seek God in all things and seek His direction constantly as things can quickly change!
***Update (2022) - My friend and I did catch the train that day to do Ministry and just like God promised I never caught the virus. The virus at the time was the original alpha strain. After this was delta. New Zealand was in lockdown for quite some time until the vaccines were distributed. Almost one year after receiving the vaccine (double dose) my family and I caught Covid - 19 (the omicron strain). We caught the virus in July 2022. It was very mild for all of us. When the virus was at its most virulent God protected us because we listened to His instruction. It also turned out (which was interesting) that what the enemy spoke that day was also the truth. Most have gotten the virus and for many it has been mild. Just like God showed me, the enemy will give you truth with a deceptive twist to keep you trapped in that deception. In this case the enemy wanted me to look for feelings instead of the 'knowing' that comes with His voice. False peace is counterfeit peace and based on a FALSE feeling of relief and escape rather than true peace. True peace with God is in the love of Christ knowing He is for you and not against you, and remembering this always in times of peril.
By Tania Francis