Isolation
In the book of Leviticus chapter 13, we read about the identification of the disease Leprosy. And how the person who has contracted this hellish disease has to be isolated for seven days, then brought for re-evaluation by the Priests.
At the moment people are in ‘lockdown‘, globally - a first-ever in the history of mankind. There are many questions going around as we are all in isolation, to some degree or another.
My dear wife Jill and her siblings were born in the very northern part of Zambia. Her mother and Father ran a leprosy colony, so from a very early age she knew what isolation was all about.
People are asking, “Is this the beginning of the end? Is the Lord Jesus about to enter the world on the clouds, riding a beautiful white stallion, as the Commander of the armies of God?“
How close are we to the final day of judgement? Well, no one on earth knows the day or the hour of God’s return. Not even Jesus Himself, only our Heavenly Father knows the time and the day. Matthew 24:36.
There are many pros and cons to this isolation period that the world is busy going through. And because everything has almost ground to a total halt, people finding they have much more time on their hands, but it is vital we remain full of faith, knowing that “all things work together…” Romans 8:28.
We have the opportunity to spend much more time each morning with Jesus, in prayer and Bible reading and in meditation without having to rush off somewhere. Quite simply there is no where to rush off to. Jeremiah 33:3.
It is also a tremendously challenging time, especially if you love people, like I do, and are not able to see them, hug them and be close to them. Jill and I have both, at this point in time, tested positive with the coronavirus. We are in self isolation, last week we were re-tested and were hoping to be tested negative - but no. The second test came back still positive but we use this precious time together, Jill and I, for when the lockdown is lifted the work begins.
In this time, we really need to stand on God’s Holy Word and not to embark on some sort of a witch-hunt to find out why we still have it, and others are now tested negative and are clear.
The house of the Chief Priest, Caiaphas, in the old city of Jerusalem, has a deep dark hole in the basement. It is where they say our beloved Master Jesus was kept after He’d been arrested in the garden of Gethsemane, that fateful night before His crucifixion. He was totally isolated, on his own.
If anyone knows how you are feeling at this very moment my dear friend Jesus does, so call out to Him, talk to him, cry to him for He truly does understand where you and I are at right now. The isolation will surely pass and then the greatest opportunity in the Christian’s life will open up - indeed the harvest is white and the workers are few. John 4:35.
It is harvest time! Sharpen the scythe.
God Bless
Angus and Jill Buchan