This morning I was reminded of my year’s motto for 2020. Every New Year’s Eve I pick a verse for the new year. Before that I pray that God will guide it so that the right verse will be chosen. To be honest I could not make sense of my verse until today. But now I realised that it fits perfectly into the current situation:
Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. Isaiah 9:1
The world is currently sinking into fear and terror because of a spreading virus. Yes, it is a dark time, but it won’t last. This attack will pass. The whole world is waiting for a glimmer of hope, for the light at the end of the tunnel. And we believers have the answer: Jesus is the light! And because we are in Jesus, we too are the light in this world.
Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. Luke 9:1
If you believe in Jesus, you are also his disciple. Therefore this verse applies to every believer. Jesus gave us His authority and power. We have the right to use the name of Jesus.
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth. Philippians 2:9-10
The name of Jesus stands above all other names. So the name of Jesus is also above the name of this virus. When we speak the name of Jesus, every knee must bow. Everything that has a name must bow to the name of Jesus. So let us speak the name of Jesus!
So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. Luke 17:6
If you have even the slightest hope that something will change when you speak the name of Jesus, you have faith like a mustard seed. The Bible says that faith is the substance of things hoped for (Hebrews 11:1). We all hope that this virus attack will pass. But unlike the world, we have a living hope. We know who holds our lives in his hand and we know who is more powerful than anything else: Jesus! Instead of cowering fearfully in our homes and waiting with everyone else, let us stand up courageously and together as the body of Christ use our authority and power. As believers in Christ we have the right to speak the name of Jesus and God himself has promised us that every knee must bow to this name. The world is at its wits‘ end, but we have Jesus, we have the answer. Let us carry out our mission and declare together: “In the name of Jesus Christ I command this coronavirus to be stopped. I say stop, no further, in Jesus‘ name. Coronavirus be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea in Jesus‘ name.”
A simple prayer, yet so effective. By speaking the name of Jesus and stopping this virus in his name, we put all our trust in the one who causes real change: Jesus Christ!