Overcoming COVID-19 God’s Way

The Supernatural- Dreams & Visions Pt. 4, The Sniper

He was a good man, no… a great man. He was an empty-nester.  He had raised ten children and was close to all of them.

Diligent at his work, he had amassed a fortune and was on the brink of being named atop the “Forbes Magazine” list as the wealthiest man of his era.

There was no drama in his life so Hollywood did not come calling. He was not the type to do Reality TV. Wealthy, diligent, and spiritual, he stood above the others. 

Everything was going so nicely until he found himself in the crosshairs of the sniper.

After a restless night, my wife Vanessa woke me up and said, “you’ve been having nightmares.” It was the morning of 16 August 2016. 

I was at Fort Monroe, VA for the third scene in my dream. I heard a shot fired and was concerned that someone had a weapon.

I looked up and to my dismay, I saw a sniper firing at targets using a high-powered rifle.  He was concealed on an upper story of a building under construction.

I tried to yell…”SNIPER!!” but my speech was garbled. My speech is no longer garbled. Please heed this warning.

Snipers are riflemen who use stealth and deception to eliminate targets primarily at long range. Effective snipers are deadly, feared, and hated. Captured snipers are shown no mercy.

It is appropriate to refer to trained military snipers as professionals, but there are rogue snipers who are nothing more than assassins and murderers. 

The devil fits the later description. Jesus said that satan was a murderer from the beginning. (John 8:44) The devil was the sniper in my dream.

One 30-cent bullet from a sniper can change the outcome of a battle involving thousands of Soldiers.

The devil -the spiritual assassin- “fires” lies, deception, innuendo, half-truths, devilish wisdom, and flawed logic.

Concerning him the Bible says:

“Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

“The thief does not come except to steal, to kill and to destroy.” (John 10:10a)

The devil was seeking to devour our man atop the “Forbes” list mentioned earlier.  His name is Job. (Job 1:7)

God described Job as the finest man on the earth. Defiant, the devil tells God that Job only serves Him because God blesses and protects him. The devil continued:

“But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” (Job 1:11) God accepted the challenge and the game was on!

God allowed satan to attack Job twice but would not allow him to be killed.  In short order, Job went bankrupt, lost his children in an “accident,” and saw his body ravaged by disease. Job kept his faith despite these catastrophic losses.

Let’s bring this story up to date.

Back in January, we made resolutions, dreamed dreams, and prepared plans for the future. Many projected 2020 as the year of vision, clarity, and prosperity.

On the back page of the news was a story about some virus in Wuhan, China, but nobody gave it much thought. Remember?

Fast forward and hundreds of thousands have died, and millions are suffering physically and psychologically from this disease. The global economy is in shambles, and our lives have been turned upside down.

Then, just when it appeared the worst was behind us, new cases of COVID-19 began popping up all over the place.

Most have experienced financial loss, some have lost family members, and many have been physically and emotionally ravaged by this disease. Job shows us the key to overcome. He kept standing.

While Job was written thousands of years ago, the sniper is STILL active, and his tactics have not changed.

Having failed to break Job through major calamities, satan resorted to another tactic.

The devil started negatively influencing the people closest to Job, and he began with Job’s wife who says to her husband…

“Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die.” (Job 2:9)

Where did she get that from? Did you catch that? Remember what satan told God:

“But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!” (Job 1:11), and later…

“But reach out and take away his health, and he will surely curse you to your face!” (Job 2:5)

Job’s wife was “weaponized” by satan-the sniper, but Job did not cave into the pressure. Incidentally, who are you listening to?

It was unfortunate that Job’s wife did not support him, but at least Job had his friends.  The problem was that his friends were not very friendly. The sniper got to them as well.

Job’s friends told him that his sufferings were the result of his sins. Job’s friends put a lot of pressure on him, but he never surrendered. Don’t you surrender!

The logic of Job’s friends reminds me of the “weaponized” logic of some cable news personalities who talk for hours about things they don’t really understand. (1 Corinthians 1:18-25)

If you are the type of person who becomes anxious, fearful or upset while watching the news, take precautions and guard yourself. The sniper knows how to push your buttons.

There is a lot of weaponized activity over social media in the form of posts, tweets and news feeds. Guard yourself because things are about to get worse.

Be encouraged. The Book of Job reveals how to defeat the sniper: Maintain your faith in God, and outlast the problem(s)! In a word…STAND!

Just as God predicted, Job kept his faith, and God repaid him double for all that he lost. (Job 42:10-17)

If you’ve encountered financial loss, lost family members, or been ravaged physically or emotionally by COVID-19, keep the faith. God will help you outlast the problem(s)!

God is MUCH greater than the sniper. Stand and God will restore to you double what you have lost.  You will get through this, and oh by the way….

Don’t ever forget that you are a target! Keep your armor on and STAND. God Bless! Press On!! Kevin