This is one of Pastor Mike's favorite bible verses: (2 Chronicles 7:14) "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." We must keep in mind that this message was originally given to God's people by way of King Solomon. From time to time, they had abandoned Him to serve many idols and false Gods. It was a reminder to them that, nonetheless, their God was a merciful and forgiving God. Well, He hasn't changed. Neither have His promises.
Like many of you, I have no idea why we are all going through this difficult time. Anyone who says otherwise is either lying or else doesn't know God and His ways in the first place. To begin with, God is not asking us to understand Him, He wants us to trust Him. What we do know is what we see in this promise. As God's children, if we humble ourselves before Him, if we stop doing whatever we are doing that displeases and dishonors Him, and we pray with all the faith He Himself has deposited into our hearts, He will hear us, forgive us, and heal our land. Its a promise!
In the 12th Chapter of the Book of Acts, we read of the time when the Apostle, Peter, was arrested and put in Prison by King Herod. Verse 5 reads: "So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him." You all know what happened after that. Peter was so miraculously freed from prison, that even those praying for him had a hard time believing it. I choose to believe that history will repeat itself because God's true children will pray today for this ordeal to end much sooner than what everyone expects. And it will!
One more thing: the more you, dear child of God, suffer because of this difficult trial, the sweeter will be your rejoicing when all this is over. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.
PS: Thank you so much everybody for your thoughts and prayers on our behalf. They have helped us tremendously and mean so much to us.
