Ecclesiates 3:1-8– 3 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
Dear Friends,
It is my sincere prayer that this finds all of you well and we pray His special protection on you and your families in these days.
The Lord is blessing us continually and we are all well. Like you, we are staying here at home unless necessary to go out, and when we do, we take precautions as suggested. We are still picking up various amounts of food each day. Sissie and others sort it and then others deliver it to those in need. Just because there is a Coronavirus, that does not mean that people are not in need of food, medical supplies, and other things.
I have been praying about what I should write in this letter and I think the Lord would have me share something with you.
Many years ago, Sissie, her mother, several others and I were visiting a village in southern Romania. I was aware that the previous winter we had shipped a large amount of food to Romania and our foundation had heard that this village was in desperate need. They loaded our truck with a large amount of food and Adi made a dangerous drive across the mountains, in the snow and ice, to deliver the food to this village. (We were later told the food saved lives in this village that winter.) Well, as we arrived, the villagers decided to have an impromptu church service that Saturday afternoon and it was packed out. Our pastor, Bro. Mike Jarrel, and Sorin Aoni, our driver/translator, both preached. Afterwards, a young man came to me, pushing his mother in a wheelchair. He asked me if I liked Gypsies. I told him I love the Gypsies. He smiled and said “I am a Gypsy!” His mother said something and the young man translated that they were so thankful for the food from the previous winter. I explained to her that God had made it all possible. She said something to the effect “you were made for this time”. I tried to explain all the people God used to get that food to them and how He had touched hearts to make this happen.
It has stayed with me through the years that, as children of our Lord, we are all “made for this time”—whatever we are going through at the moment. At this moment, our world has been shaken by this virus and many are in fear of what will happen– how it may affect our economy, etc. However, as His children, we are to be prayerfully open as to how He wants to use us at this time—because He “made us for this time”. Naturally, He gives us common sense to be careful, and we should. But we can’t allow fear to dictate our lives but should be sharing His faithfulness and love with others who may or may not know Him.
May the Lord continue to bless and protect you all.
In His Service,
Johnny