My Testimony During the COVID-19 Virus

I wanted to share my testimony with you concerning what I believe the Lord is drawing me to walk in during this time of the coronavirus pandemic. I don’t believe this is just for me, but it is also for the body of Christ. I prayed and asked the Holy Spirit to bring revelation, and this is what He showed me. We are here in this time and season for a purpose. What looks like uncertain and scary times in the world today, I believe, are extraordinary, exciting, and full of expectation for the believer!

Extraordinary because everything we have been through and experienced in our lives has prepared us for this time and place, even as Esther. The Holy Spirit reminded me of the time I went through Hurricane Hugo in 1989. I was working in Charleston, South Carolina as a critical care nurse in the burn unit at University Medical Center of South Carolina. I worked 12-hour shifts, so I didn’t get a chance to obtain supplies before my evacuation. When I went to the grocery store, all the shelves were empty, the ATMs had no money, and the gas stations were out of gas. They predicted the hurricane would go up the coast. I had to evacuate from James Island, where I was living and headed inland to North Carolina. I prayed over my trip because I needed a multiplication of gas with my gas tank almost empty, and I needed a place to stay when I got to North Carolina. I took a bottle of water, a jar of peanut butter, and a box of saltine crackers with me because this was all that was available.

The Lord provided me with a room at a motel just off the highway, although the roads looked like rush hour traffic in California filled with cars of evacuees! But in the middle of the night, I woke up to howling winds and noises of a storm thrashing trees and throwing debris which hit the motel and cars outside. I prayed over my car, myself, and the motel, and went back to sleep, peace in the middle of the storm! I had to stay put at the motel for a couple of days afterward because of road closures, downed trees, and telephone and electrical lines due to the damage. I was able to stay in the motel, but there were no restaurants, grocery stores, or gas stations available since there was no electricity in the area.

I didn’t have a cell phone back then, and so when I heard that the roads might be open, I followed the Holy Spirit’s leading and started toward Charleston. I discovered that my apartment had survived the hurricane, but the surrounding woods were now a clearing because the winds had snapped off the tops of the tall, towering trees. We had no water for three days and no electricity for two weeks. There was a curfew at dark unless you were working. I was able to work at the hospital, which had a generator, and so I got at least one meal a day. The Lord took care of me, and supplies and resources came in.

He had also reminded me of times in 2001 when my husband lost his job. He went back to work at a new job one day before I got laid off from my nursing position during a nursing shortage! I was shocked. But as I look back upon it, I realized God’s hand was upon our finances. We both didn’t lose our jobs at the same time, and it was a set up for promotion. The Lord provided a new position for me, where I would finish out my nursing career and retire.

There is no lack in the kingdom of God. Provision isn’t scarce (Philippians 4:19). Multiplication is part of the kingdom’s economy (Genesis 1:28; 22:17; Matthew 14:13-21; 15:32-39; Acts 6:7; 12:24). The kingdom is based on a blood covenant and is a protective covering. God will not withhold the kingdom from us! Even during this time, He provided unexpected money to pay our income taxes and made way for us to get some paper good supplies that we needed.

I believe that the body of Christ needs to awaken to who their source is in these end times. We cannot depend on our income and our sufficiency, but only God, who is our source (Deuteronomy 8:18)! There are blessings for the righteous (Check out Psalms and Proverbs). When the economy fails, we need to know we can trust God to take care of us.

In 2014, I learned that Jesus is my healer and my deliverer! I have been in the Word studying and meditating on it to see Jesus, who is the author and finisher of my faith. I have been walking through a process of healing to this day.

The Lord has been speaking to me over these past few months about coming up to a new level of faith, authority, and revelation. Revelation brings authority. New authority requires a new level of faith!

We are living in exciting times, where we have the opportunity of advancing the kingdom and seeing God’s glory manifested in the church and the world around us. I have a spirit of expectation of goodness and hope because the Lord is good, and hope is an expectation of good. Christ in me, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27)!

I recently needed to go to the grocery store to get some food and supplies. I had to consider what would be the wisest thing to do to protect myself during the coronavirus pandemic. I decided that I would follow the recommended guidelines from our government and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control). I am a retired nurse and took into consideration what I knew about protecting myself from germs and illnesses as well. I decided I would wear clothes that would cover me and my hair, wear nitrile gloves and a mask at the store, practice social distancing, and take hand sanitizer with me. I planned to remove the clothing and wash them when I got home.

As I was getting ready to go, a couple of scriptures came to mind: The greater One lives in me (1 John 4:4), and as He is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17). When I got into my car, I heard Holy Spirit tell me to go back inside, take Holy Communion, and pray Psalm 91 over myself. So that is what I did. Afterward, I had a revelation of who I am in Christ and His life that dwells within me. I have the same Spirit in me that raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11). Resurrection power and life live in me! We need to know who we are in Christ and that Christ is in us. We are not only standing on the Rock, but we are in the Rock. Our position is in Him, where there is peace, safety, joy, etc.

Jesus didn’t put on protective covering, and He wasn’t afraid to go out among the sick! The Anointing and the glory of the Lord were upon Him, in Him, and released through Him. When He touched a leper, He didn’t get leprosy or become unclean. But the leper became clean and well! When a sick person touched Him, He didn’t become ill or infected, but healing virtue flowed out through Him to heal and deliver them! I realized that because I am a representative of Christ, I needed to reconsider how I was looking at the situation. I should not be looking at it just in the natural using worldly wisdom only. I live and function in a spiritual, supernatural realm!

Missionaries in other parts of the world may not have access to protective gear. But they have learned who Christ is in them and have stood their ground against the enemy assault. Arthur Blessitt is known for carrying a large wooden cross through every nation of the world to share the gospel with them. When he came to a place to drink water, he took his hand and moved the scum on top of the water aside and said, “Kill it, Lord,” and then drank the water in faith, believing the germs, viruses or parasites in the water would not harm him. While in the Congo of Africa, Dr. Bree Keyton discovered that the glory of the Lord protected her even as the glory protected the children of Israel from the plagues of Egypt and in the wilderness! These are times when we need to not only know who we are in Christ, but who Christ is in us! Heidi Baker, in Mozambique, depends on the Lord to provide food for the thousands of orphans she is ministering to, even as George Mueller did in a previous generation. We have got to get our focus back onto Jesus and not what we see happening in the natural. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8)!

I am a born-again follower of Jesus Christ who lays hands on the sick, and they recover, who casts out demons (Matthew 28:18-20), and I walk in the authority and power that He has given me (Luke 10:19; Psalm 91:13; Matthew 16:18-19; 18:18-19). I do believe that we still need to listen and follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance and leading where ever we go and in whatever we do. He knows the level of our faith, and it would be foolish to do something that we thought we should do but didn’t do in faith. Our lives should reflect the life of Christ to the world around us. We are to bring the kingdom of heaven to the earth!

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” John 14:12 – 14 (NKJV)

We may be living in dangerous and uncertain times. Still, we are also living in extraordinary and exciting times, full of expectation, for an outpouring of the Spirit, signs, miracles, and wonders, and such a harvest of souls as never seen before! 

In the fall of 2019, I had a dream where I heard these words, “Awaken! Get your life in order.” They jarred me awake! As I prayed and pressed into this declaration to listen to the Word of the Lord, the Lord revealed to me what He meant. It was a clarion call for me and the body of Christ to awaken from our sleep and come into alignment with God’s kingdom and our kingdom assignment. We are to put off the works of the flesh and live for Christ and to advance His kingdom (Romans 13:11-14; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6; 1 John 1:5-7. We are to walk in faith and think kingdom thoughts (Philippians 2:5-8; 4:8). We need to see things through God’s perspective (Isaiah 50:4).

We are in the days of the great harvest of souls, and the enemy is putting increased pressure on the saints, to deceive them, and to keep them from fulfilling God’s purpose for their lives (1 Peter 5:8, 9). We are not to be unaware of his tactics (2 Corinthians 2:11). We must be believers who walk according to the Word of God and by His Spirit so that we do not fall into deception (1 Timothy 1:4).

Arise, shine, for your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. Isaiah 60:1 (NKJV)

I want to encourage you to get into the Word and hide it in your heart. Draw near to the Lord and spend time in prayer, worship, and fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! Jesus tells us in Revelation chapters 2-3 to repent, return to our first love, do the first works, and don’t fear the things we are about to suffer. Don’t compromise with the devil and those following him. Strengthen what remains so that it doesn’t die, and buy from Him gold refined in the fire, white garments to clothe us and eye salve to anoint our eyes so that we may see.

I believe there is a Great Awakening happening in the body of Christ to prepare us for the coming Great Revival and Harvest! So, let us repent and turn from ways or lifestyles that are not according to the Word of God and pleasing to Him. Let us take what the Lord has shown us during this time and ask the Holy Spirit to help us to walk in it and apply it to our lives. We need to lead Christ’centered lives and redeem the time because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:8-17). Let us walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh (Galatians 5:16-26) and bring the kingdom of heaven to earth (Matthew 16:19; Mark 16:15-18)!

Read through Revelation chapters 2-3 to see what Jesus has promised to those who overcome! We are overcomers! He has given us the victory through His shed blood and the finished work on the cross! The power in the blood of Jesus and His resurrection belongs to us!

Abundant Blessings!