Are You Ready for the Long Haul?

Most of us think this COVID thing is going to last only for a month. But with more than 2,300 cases and counting (and no sign of alleviation yet) it seems we're going to be stuck in our homes for a longer period. Are you ready for the long haul? [Picture above by Stephanie Harvey, Unsplash].

I often think of folks in the class D bracket, like the tricycle and jeepney drivers I know, and my friend Victor the taho vendor. (And probably me). I wonder how they're doing now? Each time I marvel at my quiet surroundings (deafening quietness that sometimes gets me uneasy), with not even a slight roar from any vehicle from nearby major routes, I ask if poor folks are ready for a longer haul. This makes me wrongly assume that rich folks are.

Even a full stock of groceries won't last during a 6-month quarantine. I'm not scaring anyone or being negative, I'm just wondering about possibilities. If people finally get it and obey and keep out of the streets (and I pray they would) then it'd all be over before April 15 or May, according to my estimates. If not, it may drag on for quite a while longer and in ways hard to imagine. Even for the rich.

You can just imagine what an angry, hungry and desperate populace would do in an extreme crisis like that, not to mention how crooks would take the opportunity. We saw it after super typhoon Yolanda when people barged into groceries and department stores and looted them. And with social distancing thrown out the window, imagine how COVID cases would surge higher.

So, are you ready? I'm not saying you do another round of panic-buying or hoarding. I'm asking about your mettle. Will your self remain intact in the face of chaos closer to home? Will you be calm and level-headed?

Reminds me of the lockdown when Samaria was besieged by Syria in the time of Elisha, God's prophet, in the Old Testament. The severe famine caused a mother to cook her baby and eat it (probably a lot of mothers then did that), sharing it with another desperate mom. How did the it end? The famine ended on a positive note because of the Word from God released though the mouth of Elisha. He declared:

"This is what the Lord says: 'About this time tomorrow, a seah[a] of the finest flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.'”

In other words, Elisha declared that right after just a day, food would be abundant. Everything would change in just one day! That's the power of God's prophetic move. This is what I'm asking you about. Are you ready for the long haul? I mean, the miracle that can happen and thwart the threat of a long haul? Is your faith ready? Is God really your Provider? Or do you look up to something--or someone--else?

Would you rather ask for solicitations or beg for donations from a reliable earthly source, like from abroad? But remember, this COVID crisis is worldwide. The source you're expecting may also be in deep trouble. Tell me who's not affected by this? We should all learn to rely solely on God. Maybe this is why God allowed it to affect even churches. Yes we pray, but deep in our hearts we look up to human benefactors, people who support our ministry or answer our solicitation, rather than genuinely wait from the hand of God.

Yeah, God uses people for giving and donating, which is good. But it's obvious that we often begin to look up to them than to God. And we also give them special favors in church. We tend to listen more to givers than others. Worse, we let them run the church. We put them on pedestals as gods. With a deadly thing like COVID out to get us all, we find ourselves unprepared for the long haul.

I think all this is allowed to force us all to re-learn the basics of waiting and reliance solely on God. Because we've lost the art of waiting patiently and the appreciation of depending on God alone. Praying becomes a mere ritual done to appease our consciences because actually we rely more on our connections than on God. We just make it all sound safe and sound by saying our connections are God's means of provision, but really, God's out of the picture.

Praying to God has become lip service.

Imagine Elisha declaring God's Word of abundance the day after but then asking for solicitations and donations to back up his declaration, justifying it as "Faith with works." But the story shows how God provided abundance through supernatural means. Elisha did nothing but declare and wait. This is Kingdom supernatural technology the church has totally lost and which God wants restored in these last days.

And thus, the helplessness that COVID has rendered everyone.