Life Interrupted

Life Interrupted

By

Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.

PREFACE: - The other day I saw a post by my friend Apostle Sammy Smith that said “God said He must Interrupt The Routine”!!!! By Any Means Necessary!” Apostle I felt that so much I just wanted to build upon it. Thank you and Glory to God for such a powerful statement.

It is sad and I truly feel for those who have lost their lives from this disease, for those that are currently suffering, and for the families, and communities that are being affected. I want to encourage and give a word of comfort to all those who have been gripped by fear over coronavirus and its effect on our day-to-day lives.

During this time we can learn much about God, our relationship to Him during this time of crisis, develop a closer walk with Him, build our prayer life, and totally learn how to lean and depend upon God through these trying times. In this day and time of modern technology we can see almost in real time the effects it is having on every country on the planet. At any given time, we can see the rising death tolls and where it seems to be making a turn for the better.

Nearly a 100 years ago or so, a strain of influenza known as Spanish flu caused a global pandemic, spreading rapidly and killing indiscriminately. Young, old, sick and otherwise-healthy people all became infected, and at least 10% of patients died. Estimates vary on the exact number of deaths caused by the disease, but it is thought to have infected a third of the world's population and killed at least 50 million people, making it the deadliest pandemic in modern history. In 2014, a new theory about the origins of the virus suggested that it first emerged in China, National Geographic reported. Previously undiscovered records linked the flu to the transportation of Chinese laborers, the Chinese Labour Corps, across Canada in 1917 and 1918. This current pandemic seems to be following the same pattern as the Spanish Flu did, as the old saying goes “Coincidence I Don’t Think So”. From 1918 to 1919, an estimated 500 million people worldwide contracted what we now know as the H1N1 virus, and 50 million died as a result—675,000 in the United States alone. During this pandemic churches and ministers complied with health department mandates to close their meetings and quarantine those who were sick. They recognized that they needed to protect people in the cities they lived in. On several occasions, ministers canceled revival meetings because influenza was spreading across the town. Some saw the epidemic as resistance to the great work God was doing. Even so, they viewed the painful reality of human mortality as a greater impulse to reach the lost.

As Spirit-filled people of God consider how to respond to the current crisis, we can learn some things through this historical example:

First, the people of God endured the worst flu pandemic to that point in history. Although they believed in healing, they didn’t claim that their faith alone in God would protect them from the disease. Many caught the flu; and yes, even some died. Yet, they continued to proclaim that God was a healer, and many were preserved through the flu or healed of it. In either case, they overcame by their faith in God and the word of their testimony.

Second, worship and ministry were interrupted by the crisis. Churches had to close their doors, Missions were closed. Revivals were canceled. Yet, the Pastors, churches, and people followed the guidelines of the city or health department and closed their churches and missions when instructed to. They were not careless with the lives of people during the pandemic. They were willing to stay home and pray, knowing that that was just as valuable in the crisis.

The CDC estimates that 32 to 49 million Americans contracted influenza this past year and 20,000 to 50,000 died. That’s fairly on par with a typical season, and well below the CDC’s 2017-2018 estimates of 48.8 million illnesses, 959,000 hospitalizations and 79,400 deaths.

Therefore, the Coronavirus is very scary, the uncertainty, the rapid spread, the quick decline in a person’s health causes us to look at our own mortality. If you have been born again you have no reason to fear that. If you haven’t repented of your sins and gave your life to Jesus today, right now is a perfect opportunity to do just that. With a sincere heart repent of your sins, confess with your mouth that Jesus died for your sins and was raised again, accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, make 180 degree turn away from that unrepented life-style and start from this very moment to live your life according to the Word of God. THEN:- once this Pandemic is passed find yourself a True BIBLE believing church and a Pastor that Preaches the Unadulterated WORD OF GOD, complete the requirements of Baptism in Jesus name, become connected with that Spiritual family and hold on to God’s unchanging hand.