There is a famous verse Jer 29:11 where the Lord tells His people in forced exile in Babylon, separated from the Temple worship:

“I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future”

The Lord has always our best interests at heart and uses trials to bring out the best in His people. That is GOD TESTS US! God also wants to prepare us for the future, so again He tests our preparedness to get us ready. So now He is using the coronavirus to test our readiness for the Last Days and the final return of Jesus for his bride.

These are just 6 tests of coronavirus of the many which He is doing. I owe most of these insights to my good Pastor friend Emmanuel from Ghana, who has even had some of this published nationally and are all based on the Bible. I have summarized for this blog the 6 tests. If you find it useful PLEASE SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS (share buttons below) to help them. Thanks:

1.Test of our preparedness for Persecution

Pastor Emmanuel said, “Persecution could one day make Christian gatherings impossible. So this could be a ‘mock exercise’ to determine the effectiveness of our ministry.”

How will the Church operate if it can’t meet anymore? We need to work this out and adapt for the future when the man of lawlessness will appear and persecute all believers (2 Thess 2:3).

2.Test of our oneness

1 John has already spoken to us about the anti-xt spirit that “is already in the world” (1 Jn 4:3). So this spirit acting against the Church is not the problem, because we are forewarned. The question is are we prepared for it? What is going on now is an attack by this spirit on the oneness of the Church, of us or what’s left of our oneness, which is still enough to scare him.

Why? Because without this oneness the world will not believe the God sent His Son (Jn 17:23)! Because without this oneness the Church will collapse under persecution! So this is a test of our ONENESS. What is our fellowship really like with our brothers and sisters? Do we love them? Do we accept them? Or do we just criticize?

What will we do after coronavirus? Go back to normal? Will it have changed anything about our oneness and love for one another? Without oneness Jesus cannot return because he will return for a mature Church that is one, like he is One (Eph 4:13).

We need to get ready and for God’s visitation. See also:  PREPARING FOR A DIVINE VISITATION

3.Test of our discipleship

This has never depended upon the Church and church meetings but mostly on our personal discipleship and relationship with the Lord. God gave us the Holy Spirit as one who would disciple us day-to-day and “teach you all things” (Jn 14:26).

So where is our discipleship now when we don’t have church meetings to motivate us to pray, worship and teach us the Bible? Can we still stand and grow or have we lost motivation in our walk with the Lord?

See also my Blog on “What God is Doing?” at this time.

4.Test of who we are really listening to

The media exaggerates and perpetuates the problems we’re facing because it sells! Jesus warns that in the Last Days will arise many false prophets, who will tell us lies and manipulate us. Indeed they will “deceive many people” and hence cause many to “turn away from the faith” (Mt 24:11).

So who am I listening to? Who is dictating my thoughts at this time and about coronavirus? The real test is how much time am I spending watching, reading or listening to the media and how much time in prayer and reading the Bible which talks about such days (see my other blog about how the Book of Joel talks so clearly about the current crisis).

5.Test of what we are depending upon

It goes deeper than this. Where is our dependence on the Bible and listening to the Holy Spirit compared to the media? In the end we listen to whom WE TRUST. This shows if we truly are a son or daughter of God and He wants to know. If we don’t really trust God, now is the time to repent and put our trust in Him, who alone can save, protect and speak the truth to us.

6.Test of our ability to understand the times

My friend Emmanuel quoted a fascinating passage about how Jesus points out to his generation about their skill in predicting the weather but:

“Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?” (Lk 12:56).

We need to learn to interpret the signs of the times to get ready for what is to come. This comes from the Lord and is already explained in the Bible, not in the media!

So have we passed these 6 tests of coronavirus? If not what will we do about it? We need to act swiftly.

For stories on revivals and Bible passages that will help get you ready for what God is going to do, do read my book GRACE OUTPOURINGS: 21 DAYS REVIVAL DEVOTIONAL for a great devotional experience.

For more on how to get ready see also:  PREPARING FOR A DIVINE VISITATION

What Next? Coronavirus and Bible Prophecy?

Joel’s prophecy has so much in common with this situation:

1. It’s about a plague of locusts, that are devastating the land and therefore the economy (1:16-18), as Israel was an agriculturally based society. The plague is obviously different but it’s having the same effects! It’s not coronavirus but something similar.
2. Everyone is affected, farmers (1:11), vine growers (1:11), government (1:2), the religious leaders (1:13), even drunkards (1:5)!
3. The Temple (church of the day) cannot operate anymore because it needs grain and oil to function and to make offerings (1:13). This is disastrous because without this, the presence of God in their midst is at risk. Most churches aren’t meeting anymore in the current crisis!
4. It’s a disaster that no-one has ever seen in their lifetime! (1:2)

Then the Book of Joel TELLS US WHAT TO DO. To read this see my blog, “CORONAVIRUS: JOEL TELLS ALL“