Source: Asia Harvest, March 16, 2020
Many people have asked how the virus is affecting the Chinese churches in Wuhan and throughout China. Ironically, the brutal persecution launched by President Xi over the last few years has helped prepare the house churches for the current situation. Thousands of large congregations were broken down into small groups of five or six believers, who have been meeting together for prayer and Bible study in their homes.
Some Chinese churches set up online services since the virus began, but many of their websites and social media pages have been shut down by the government… Communist authorities have even taken the opportunity to let people know that their facial recognition technology works just as well when people are wearing masks.
As fear and trepidation spreads throughout the world along with the virus, we would like to encourage all believers to focus on the Lord Jesus Christ, for “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).
Rather than worrying about what might go wrong, the Lord wants his children to look to Him in faith, because fear and faith cannot exist together, and the stronger of the two will always kill the other. Our job is to set our eyes on Jesus and his kingdom, for “without faith it’s impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6).
So, let’s not fear! God is, and always will be in total control. Although our lives look set to be disrupted for some time because of the economic effects of the pandemic, God is not yet finished his work in you or through you. Let us keep serving him while we have the opportunity. The Lord Jesus said: “As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work” (John 9:4).
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