Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”? But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. – James 4:5-10

With the institution of Coronavirus social distancing I’ve entered into the realm of internet live-stream gatherings. While I anticipated that with this physical distancing would come diminished spiritual engagement among the Body of Christ, that’s not been the case.

There have been Sunday services, Zoom Prayer meetings for Youth ministry, Coronavirus intervention, Healing services, Instagram prayer sessions, prayer efforts focussed on revival, drive-through prayer events as well as on-site prayer times outside of area hospitals. Prayer is not being stifled but is rising up.

Why?

I’ve recently been meditating on James 4:5 where James basically challenges believers with, “Do you trust scripture as God’s word?” “Is it true or do you think it is all in vain – meaning that it will be without success or a result?” “Do you really believe that the Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously?”

Clearly, Coronavirus is not of God. It is a result of a corrupt, fallen world and a tool of the enemy to “steal, kill and destroy”. But, our God is using it to cause that Spirit within us to rise up yearning jealously.

The Greek word for Yearns is Epipotheo – to long for, to pursue with love, to even lust for. The Spirit within us lusts with jealousy/envy for what? For our heart, mind and soul. For our attention and trust in His goodness, righteousness and truth. That our hearts desire would be for God and would look beyond the temporal things of this world and desire the things of God.

Coronavirus is not the all-powerful being – THE loving God is.

The yearning jealously is like the bubbling magma building up pressure beneath the volcano. It is causing an eruption of desires crying out to God for Him to show up to be real and powerful and relational.

How is this Possible?

Last night one of the Cable News Talking Heads did a segment on the models used for predicting number of deaths from Coronavirus. The positive news was the the IHME modeling revised their prediction of Coronavirus deaths in the US down from their original estimate of 240,000 to 61,000. A huge drop! Praise God!

Some people may presume that the drop was due to effective social distancing. But, the reality is that social distancing was already built into the original modeling of 240,000 deaths. The scientific community is at a loss as to why the trending has dropped so significantly.

It could be just bad modeling or is it something else? Has the Spirit of our engaging God used this scourge of Coronavirus to cause His Spirit to yearn earnestly within His people? And . . . He is responding?

One of my favorite scriptures is also found in James chapter 4 with verse 8 – “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” It is a relational dynamic you see between God and His people throughout scripture. God is constantly, through creation and by His Spirit, beckoning us with open arms. His Spirit is yearning Jealously within us for Him to be our sole desire. As we then sincerely draw near to God, He responds by moving in with power!

On this Good Friday – the day we honor Jesus, our Savior for showing up to be the ultimate sacrifice for our crimes, let’s keep on drawing near. Our loving God is responding as the Spirit of God erupts, causing us to draw near and God is reciprocating to show up again and again with all of who He is.

The world may not see it or understand it but we know who deserves the credit . . .

Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Psalm 105:1