We Are Still Standing!
I have friends in the entertainment industry whose livelihood has been destroyed by the coronavirus.
I have friends who owned businesses that had been in their family for generations who were forced to close their doors by the winds of the pandemic.
I have friends who haven’t seen their elderly parents and grandparents for months due to the restrictions at nursing facilities.
I have friends whose weddings were postponed … whose senior prom was cancelled … whose life has been put on hold because of a vicious strain of the flu.
You could probably fill in that same blank, “I have friends who …”
No one in America has been left untouched by COVID-19.
We have all been impacted by the isolation and by the fear.
Just as the leaves fall off the trees as winter approaches … our lives currently have that same, stark appearance. Everything extra has been ripped away …
From professional sports … to well-loved television shows … to easy access to groceries … to the ability to travel … to gathering both for celebrations and for somber events … to visiting loved ones in the hospital … it is all gone.
G.O.N.E.
Gone.
Gone by the force of one 5-letter word: COVID.
Now are you ready for some good news?! Are you ready for some extraordinary news?!
We are still standing!
We are standing strong in spite of quarantine … a fallen economy … the threat of illness … and the lack of toilet paper!
We are standing tall and resilient as the world topples around us.
We are simply doing what God’s people have always done at every horrific crossroads in human history.
When three boys were placed in the fiery furnace … they continued to worship and to stand.
When David was faced with a daunting giant … he charged Goliath with every ounce of strength in his young soul.
When Paul and Silas were quarantined unfairly in prison … they sang so loudly that it caused an earthquake! (That’s some pretty impressive singing in my book!)
When King Jehoshapat was being attacked by three enemy nations … he called a fast and went to church! Then … he put the worshippers on the front lines of the battle.
When James was endeavoring to encourage a church that had been dispersed and could no longer gather, he told them, “Count it all joy …”
What we are going through is not uncommon for the people of God but we will do what His children have always done … we will carry on.
We will worship.
We will charge the enemy.
We will sing loudly.
We will fast and we will stay in fellowship.
We will choose joy!
Now, can I be honest and personal with you today?
Ministries across the world have been severely impacted by the pandemic that has virtually paralyzed nations. By mid-March, every speaking engagement and ministry event that we had scheduled for 2020 had been cancelled or postponed.
The saddest postponement of all was our annual conference that is held in New York State.
We were so excited to be celebrating our “Sweet 16”!
16 years of Women’s Conferences held in western New York!
Thousands upon thousands lives have been changed because we dared to sing … to laugh … to cry … to pray … and to be changed by the unchanging power of the Word of God!
Initially, we merely postponed the April conference until September ~ hoping and believing that we would be free to gather in full-force by the 9th month of the year.
By the end of July it became obvious to me that our re-scheduled September date would not be happening either.
What should we do?
Should I panic? Cry? Worry? Feel frustration rising within me?
Be disappointed? Wring my hands? Complain about the government and about COVID?!
But, as I prayed, I thought about the three Hebrew boys … and about David … and about Paul and Silas … and about King Jehoshaphat … and about James.
I decided to do what they would have done … I decided to carry on in grand faith that we serve a God who works all things together for our good and for His glory.
We were going virtual!
And so, this weekend, Carol McLeod Ministries is holding our 16th Annual Women’s Conference!
We are using the magic of technology to touch a generation of women.
We believe that God is using what the enemy meant for evil for a higher and greater good … to encourage an entire generation of women alive in the world today!
Don’t ever believe that the devil has won a battle … but expect the hand of God to move in miracles!
We are reaching more women than we ever could have reached in a brick and mortar location.
We will still sing together as we are led by Keri Cardinale Schopp … and we will laugh at the ridiculous antics of Angel and Monica … and we will be coached by Emily Long … and we will hear the sincerity and joy of Danielle Stoltz … and I will be teaching the Word of God in three power-packed sessions.
The world may have stopped … but ministry has not stopped.
God never stops loving … speaking to … listening to … and encouraging the men and women of God at any moment in history. I believe that it is at these moments of human pain that our loving Father is actually pouring on the power that only He holds.
Have you registered for this life-changing and vibrant conference? The wonderful thing about the conference is that it will not only be available this week-end … but also in all the days to come.
You can watch it at anytime from anyplace … again and again and again.
Would you join us, also, in prayer? Will you pray that this week-end hell will get smaller and heaven will get bigger?
Will you pray?
Also, as you pray for our ministry, will you pray how you can join with us to make it through these challenging times? We are standing in defiant faith that our ministry will go on for generations to come!
But we need YOU to make that happen.
Will you pray about using our resources as gifts to those in your life?
Shop Carol McLeod Ministries’ resources here.
Will you join with the three Hebrew boys … with David … with Paul and Silas … with King Jehoshaphat … with James … and with me … to refuse to bow to the pain of our circumstances but to continue to trust our God who is still on the throne?!
Will you?!
Thanks for listening to my heart this week. As you know by now, my heart is truly not a perfect heart but it is a heart that is filled to overflowing with gratitude for the life I have been given and for the people who walk with me. And, it continues to be a heart that is relentlessly chasing after God and all that He is!