Have you ever wondered why some annoying illness or trouble swooped in just after a spiritual victory? Thats exactly what I was wondering after I returned from an amazing conference and immediately got hit in the face with Covid-19!
Many times we do not get our “why” answered.
This time, I felt I did.
After a year of the entire world avoiding Covid like the plague. (I mean. It IS a plague and worthy of all avoidance! ) But that icky little green spiked ball of a virus apparently found me a few weeks back.
If you have been a regular listener of “storming the gates You may remember I shared how I asked God to “pay half my way” if He wanted me to attend a certain conference I was thinking about attending. To my amazement, 2 days later, without telling anyone about this, I had three checks that represented half my entire way: Plane fare, hotel, food, and suggested donation for the conference. Following God can be so fun!
The conference WAS fantastic. One of the very best times I ever had getting away and just dwelling with the Lord! I was walking on the clouds as I returned home.
The very next day… I had a cough. Then a fever. And then… Sure enough, both I and my husband tested positive for Covid. I was not doing too bad overall, other than I REALLY missed tasting coffee, but my hubby sure was. He ran a fever for 14 days straight! Thankfully through much prayer and the help of medication he avoided a hospital stay and is almost fully recovered.
One of the saddest things for me was that I came home from Texas, where the conference was, so full of the Spirit and excited to meditate and begin living in the truths I gained there. Instead, I was listless and aching. Reading was too hard. I could not review my notes, or go see friend Is could share my experiences with. Even when I recovered, I was now concerned and caring daily for my husband, Charlie. I wondered if all I gained in Texas would be counted loss because it would be forgotten, or no longer as clear, after the days of sickness.
On the morning of the fourteenth day spent dealing with this, I woke up to a message pouring out of my iPhone. Apparently, I had fallen asleep listening to something and as YouTube is want to do if you don’t hit the toggle switch, it had now moved on to a new message.
I heard preacher Perry Stone saying “Satan does not attack your victory (you already won!) but to keep you from where you are going!”
Whoa. That made my sleepy eyes open and my ears perk up.
I felt I achieved a spiritual victory at the conference where I laid hold of God in new ways. Then I was stopped from moving into the new spiritual ground as the virus hit me like a door slammed in my face!
Pastor Perry went on to explain specific points he gleaned as he studied the shipwreck in Acts 27-28. One thing I noted right away: That Shipwreck took 14 days. Fourteen days Paul was in a terrible storm when he knew he was meant to go to Rome! I
Additionally, in Acts 27:20 we see that there had been no sunlight for: 14 days! Pastor Perry compared that to the times we are seeking God for a solution, a word, a clear direction, but instead, it is Dark!
Indeed, for fourteen days I had poured my heart out to God for my husband’s health. I opened the Bible hoping for that special verse, or word to leap out and fill my heart with confidence in God’s healing! Nothing. In fact, it seemed I only read negative and frightening things.
But now…
As I lay in bed listening to the teaching a renewal of hope stirred in me. I just “knew in my knower” that God caused me to hear that message that morning because the sun was about to breakthrough!
Sure enough, for the first time in that long and dark 2 weeks, Charlie’s temperature was normal! The fever finally passed through like the spring rain. That was the beginning of his recovery, which has moved swiftly, overall. It was interesting because almost the entire fourteen days of sickness the weather in our city was dismal and dark. It rained at least half of the time, and there was even some snow mixed in just to be sure we were miserable time. That day, the sun physically shone!
Yet, in that so-called “miserable” time, I had not been completely “in the dark.”
The long, quiet, time at home drew me close to the Lord. I spent many hours just quietly thinking and praying and waiting on the Lord. It’s in the miserable weather we snuggle with the Savior and cling tenaciously to Him. When I called out to God and dedicated myself to deeper prayer for healing, I saw changes in Charlie’s health. Once he had very low oxygen levels, but after prayer, it leaped up ten percentage points!
To be honest. I came out of those two weeks with fresh faith and fresh vision. Spending time looking to God made me more certain than ever of what God is calling me to do. It’s no longer an ambiguous and vague thing. It has taken shape and filled me with purpose!
The whole thing reminded me of another dark time and another storm. When I was newly married to Charlie after a difficult and painful divorce.
Let me read you these words I penned back then in my journal:
“December 26, 2007;
“I read Acts 27 today. It was rich and wonderful, albeit sad as well. A number of important things came to me as I read and meditated on it.
* I disobeyed God’s voice and risked the lives of my family and all I held dear on this earth. Like the centurion, I “heard” Paul’s warning, but stubbornly went my own way.
This resulted in an inevitable shipwreck. No matter how they tried to spare the ship, it was destined to be destroyed and was.
But Paul also was destined for a purpose: “You must be brought before Ceaser,” the angel said. A disobedient captain could not thwart God’s plans.
“And my entire family, including me, still have a purpose here.
*The angel said, “God has indeed granted you all those who sail with you.”
“Originally, Paul had said ‘there would be a great loss of life’ After Paul had a ‘long abstinence from food,’ God promises him the lives of all the people. (276)
“It seemed God was saying to me, you have humbled yourself and fasted, so I will save your children, who in normal circumstances would be lost in such a terrible shipwreck.”
There was more to that journal entry, but I’ll leave it there for now.
Backin 2007, when I read Acts 27 I was feeling led to do a 14 day fast. But 14 days seemed like an odd and unscriptural amount of time. I know, silly. But that’s how my brain works. I wondered if there ever was a fourteen-day fast. Most fasts are 3, 7, 21, or 40 days. Am I right? Upon reading about the imposed 14-day fast in Acts 27, I was certain I was to do a 14 day fast, and Charlie fasted with me, for the spiritual health and well-being of everyone affected by the divorce that had created such a tremendous shipwreck in peoples lives.
We ended up completing that fast. It was not just a prayer fast, but a time of repentance for me.
I believe each person landed on shore, riding various pieces of wreckage.
Back to today:
Hearing Perry Stone speak on Acts 27-28 and Pauls shipwreck, reminded me afresh of that season in my life. It was as dark and deep as Covid, but much more sinister as it threatened to take us all down.
Yet in the end:
We did survive. Eventually, everyone washed up safely on shore, and found new life and hope on various “ships.”
I want to encourage your heart today if you are in a storm!
Satan may be doing all he can to keep you from your destiny: But you have a place to GO! You have people to see! Use the time of darkness and rain to hide away with Jesus. Trust he is FOR you even when it does not feel like He is!
Oh, and grab your Bible and read Acts 27-28.
Credits and acknowledgments
Music “Hard fought Victory” by Purple Planet:
Visit Joni Scott on instagram @JoniDaScott
