28 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. 29 He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. 30 They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven. 31 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.

On this Good Friday, I am reminded of another Good Friday back in the year of 2011. Unfailing Love Members got together at 6pm at the Jennings Location to prepare Easter Baskets. We were inside of the building putting the baskets together, we had music playing and just having a wonderful fellowship together. We were unaware of the storm and tornado that was raging around us outside. It was about 9 pm when everyone’s cell phones started to ring with our family and friends wondering if we were okay.

We were all wondering what they were talking about because we didn’t know the extent of the damage that had happened on the outside. We all left to go to our different homes to make sure things were fine. This was the night that the E4 tornado hit Lambert Airport, that caused a lot of damage but thank God no lives were lost. My parents had damage to their fence outside and I was without power all weekend.

To me that Good Friday storm is similar to what we are going through today with this Coronavirus. Some of us are directly impacted by the virus because they have contracted the virus or have to work directly with it to protect others. Then there are others who have not been hit directly with the virus but are dealing with the effect of the virus (school shut down, can’t leave the house, item shortage, lost jobs, missed graduations/proms). Not to mention the mental toll it takes on people on both sides of the virus.

In that 29 verse of Psalm 107, it says that the Lord will still the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. It is interesting that it doesn’t say that the Lord eliminated the storm (which the Lord has the ability to do) but it says it was toned down to a whisper. We have to remember in this time that God can come in during the storm and make things better even when the storm is going on raging. God has the ability to quiet things and hold you in safety while the storm is going on. Then when God comes in and makes things better, we have to praise him for His UNFAILING LOVE towards us.

We have to understand that God allowed this virus to happen and it is beyond any human understanding of why this is so. I believe it is not for us to understand but so we can trust Him more in this time. Especially a time when the church building is closed, and you can’t run there to play church for a little while to get better and go back out to do what you had been doing. You have to go to God basically on your own or God is so good He has given us access to church directly in our living room through all the online services offered to us. We have to make it a point to take advantage of these opportunities and platforms to hear from God and receive what he is trying to speak to us.

I know for myself this virus has thrown my world upside down; I have not been directly affected by the virus as anybody close to me has caught it, but I have been indirectly affected by it mentally and physically. I know God is able to heal a dying world again just like Jesus did over 3000 years ago on the cross for our sins. Jesus had to go to the cross and sacrifice his life for us and now it time for us to do some sacrificing of our normal life to heal our land. So, as we celebrate another resurrection season in an unconventional way this year. We still give God praise for sending his son and Jesus the glory for laying down his life for us.

So even though the church building will be closed on Sunday let’s not let that stop us from giving out the highest praise because it was still a Good Friday and a Glorious Sunday Morning. God Bless.

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Deacon Kevin Webb

Unfailing Love Christian Church

4068 Maffitt Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63113, USA