Scripture
He causes the clouds to rise over the earth.
He sends the lightning with the rain
and releases the wind from his storehouses.
~Jeremiah 51:16, NLT
Quote
Dark clouds of affliction and trails are but God’s vehicles of blessings sent to soften our hearts and make them fruitful and useful to Him.
~L.B. Cowman
Sérgio Vieira de Mello was born March 15, 1948, the same birth year as Big Mama. He was a United Nations diplomat who died in a Canal hotel bombing in Baghdad on August 19, 2003. The terrorist group responsible for his death is now known as ISIS. Sergio spent 34 years of his life trying to help refugees and displaced people. Once Sergio was talking to an African lady who had been displaced by war. She was living as a refugee in a small village and Sergio was there trying to negotiate a peaceful solution to this war torn African country. He sat down my this African woman and asks her for her thoughts; he spoke several foreign languages and had no trouble communicating. She said, “I would tell you but you would not believe me or you would think I am crazy.” He urged her to share and told her he would understand. She said as she pointed upward, “I would like to be a cloud, to float above all the war, sorrow, pain and grief. To let the wind carry me to my country and then drop me down like rain.” She wanted to go home and to die in the land of her birth.
Some times we fuss about the clouds; they block our view of the stars at night and the sun by day. When the dark clouds gather and descend over us, we know that a storm is coming with lightening, hail, rain and wind. Clouds can be refreshing giving us cover on a hot day and they can be ominous. Josie and Chloe like to look at the giant white clouds and determine their shape; sometimes they resemble things on earth. We all know the white clouds are harmless; it is the black clouds that we fear. But it is also the black clouds that give us rain and nitrogen which we must have to live. It is the thunder and lightening that break the nitrogen down to levels that we can use. Without the lightening, the upper level nitrogen would be too strong for earth, it would destroy plants and humans. There is a reason for the black clouds.
Is the Covid-19 thing a hoax perpetrated by the health big wigs and only God knows who else? I do not know. Has the government and the media over reacted? The Media for sure and the government possibly. Has God brought good out of a bad situation? We all know the answer to this question: ‘Yes’, He has. I noticed the writing on one of DBC’s new T-shirts….Jesus didn’t stay in the grave and we are not staying in the building. The virus has brought the church out of the building and that is GOOD. Far too long, Baptist have associated CHURCH with a building when all along it has been a BODY. This is just one of the good things: there are others.
I’m really behind today so I have to hurry. I think the governor is wrong and is listening to the wrong people. These big wigs in the health department are out of touch. These folks have not doctored sick people in years. You know the old adage, the dead wood floats to the top. Hospitals need to be open. Lisa should be able to be by Steve’s side: it is ridiculous. We must start emailing the governor now. Being 70 myself, I hate to say it, but she is too old. We need a younger, more competent governor.
I can live with DRIVE-IN CHURCH, actually, I am having a blast but the hospitals need to open and some of the restaurants are going under if they don’t open soon. Let those who are afraid stay home. There are some who will practice social distancing the rest of their life and there is nothing we can do about it but most are ready to take their chances. You cannot eliminate all the risk. Some common sense would be helpful.