A fellow Christian and I were discussing the coronavirus chaos recently. He said he was trying to figure out how much of the mainstream media reporting on it was true, how much was half true and how much was far from true. “It’s so difficult to know who to believe,” he said. “I don’t know what to believe.” His concern was for his employees as well as himself. I suggested he take nothing from the media at face value and to take his deepest concerns to the Lord Jesus Christ in prayer. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you Matthew 6:36. Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and you shall glorify Me Psalm 50:15.
What a grand honor it is to seek the Lord freely in prayer at any hour day or night, and know for certain that once we do so He will take care of matters from there. “You people need a crutch to get you through life!” That’s the accusation from the arrogant, the ignorant, the restless, the bitter, the chain-smoker, the alcohol over-consumer, the superstitious, and what have you. Talk about crutches! I’ve never encountered an accuser without one – or many. At the beginning of the chaos, I took my concerns to prayer one morning and the Lord answered immediately from the Scriptures: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved (deliver, protect, heal, preserve, make whole), you and your household (children, grandchildren) Acts 16:31.
No doubt lots of Christians did the same and they too received immediate answers from Scripture. What would I have done had the Lord not answered so quickly? My normal practice is to wait on Him; Christ will always minister something meaningful from the Scriptures. Examples at random: Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He will strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD! Psalm 27:14. Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield Psalm 33:20. And now, LORD, for what do I wait? My hope is in You Psalm 39:7. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid John 14:27.
Living in a world immersed in impatience, a world constantly seeking immediate answers and cures for its issues and ills, waiting is the last thing people want to do. It’s not natural, even for Christians! God knows that, that’s why He puts us through many seasons of waiting. It’s one of His ways of stripping us from all things natural so as to equip us with all things supernatural. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ (born again) he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new 2 Corinthians 5:17. That Scripture speaks to our legal position in Christ immediately upon receiving Him into our life, but experientially it has to be outworked over much time, hence the waiting.
The primary methods God uses to equip born again Christians with all things supernatural is through prayer, plus the reading and studying of the Scriptures. There is no other way to find God’s will on a matter – any matter! There is no other way of knowing the mind of Christ. Religious people will often tell us they love Jesus but they’ll also tell us they don’t believe the Bible is the inspired word of God. How silly that is; they’ve put themselves in an inconsistent position. The Bible is the one and only source of specific and detailed information about the Lord. That must be taken into consideration always, otherwise one is not in the possession of facts, but rather, fantasy. But we have the mind of Christ 1 Corinthians 2:16.
In the process of being equipped with all things supernatural, one learns to not get too caught up in what the mainstream media calls news these days; one takes it with a grain of salt. The same applies for their documentaries and Q&A Forums. Brain washing, mind control and scaremongering shows up to be the primary agenda behind much of the reporting whether it be in reference to the coronavirus chaos or anything else troubling the world. Check out this one example. It matters little what country one lives in, they’re all at it in one form or another. Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth has fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. So truth fails…… Isaiah 59:14-15.
However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come John 16:13. It is the indwelling Holy Spirit of God who equips a new creation with all things supernatural, and among the many things He tells us that are to come, increased lawlessness and hatred for truth is at the top of the list. And given that Satan the devil, known as the god of this age 2 Corinthians 4:4, is also the prince of the power of the air Ephesians 2:2, no wonder it’s difficult for people to know who or what to believe from the media. One must learn to discern the tactics these people apply to their news reporting. Confusion is one primary tactic!
How does confusion work? Take headlines for example: How often do we read one with, “reliable sources say,” or similar tacked on the end? Who are the reliable sources? There are none! But most people don’t think that through; they’ll believe it. Another tactic: The headline and sub headline are totally false. When such is sufficiently protested they’ll retract with the weakest and most insincere of apologies. In the meantime their mission has been accomplished; seeds of confusion and deception have been sown, straight out lies have been received as the truth and they will germinate as such in the mind with absolute certainty. That’s how deep division gets created in society. Josef Goebbels is long dead, but not his tactics!
For God is not the author of confusion but of peace…… 1 Corinthians 14:33. Biblical meaning of confusion: instability, disorder, commotion, tumult. Biblical meaning of deception: to be beguiled, seduced, deluded, go astray, to be out of the way. These are certainly the fruits of current-day mainstream media news reporting. No wonder lawlessness abounds; along with fear, it rides in on the back of those things. The media may not be the creator of it, but it feeds it. If it were otherwise, peace would rule. What would that look like in society? Biblical meaning of peace: completeness, soundness, welfare, health, rest, quietness, set at one. No riots, no violence, no smashing people, homes, or properties; no killing, no looting, no stealing.
Biblical meaning of lies: deceit, deception, falsehood, fraudulent, sham. In future days the world will become aware of how much these apply not only to the coronavirus chaos, but to all man-created chaos activated across the globe over the past few decades. Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, and does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies Psalm 40:4. The alternative of blessed? Cursed! A day of reckoning awaits them all; hopefully that day is this side of eternity, whereby they would take the opportunity to repent of their ways and turn to Christ for mercy and forgiveness. If not, it will be too late to do so on the other side. You rebuke the proud – the cursed, who stray from Your commandments Psalm 119:21.
Biblical meaning of truth: Jesus Christ, certainty, trustworthy, verity, right, sure, true, absolute. “There are no absolutes! All truth is relative; nothing can be known for sure,” so say the deceivers and the liars, plus the many deluded foot soldiers following them. That’s not what God says, however. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and truth go before Your face Psalm 89:14. No mercy from God for the unrighteous, the unjust, the merciless, the truth-denier, or the truth-twister! The truthful lip shall be established forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment Proverbs 12:19. And for the media people who justify themselves with, “I am only following orders,” that won’t wash with Christ!
When the coronavirus chaos is over, the mainstream media will be salivating as it awaits a replacement. One will come soon enough. My advice for Christians is to prepare in advance; apply daily the first Scripture mentioned in the first paragraph of this post, and then apply the second Scripture from that paragraph the moment the chaos hits. In addition, be prepared to wait on the Lord should His answer not be immediately forthcoming. Avoid doing what too many Christians have been doing during this chaos – running all over the Internet seeking answers from anyone who will tell them what they want to hear. But those who wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint Isaiah 40:31.