When the righteous increase, the people rejoice; But when a wrong one rules, the people sigh.
Proverbs 29:2 , The Scriptures 2009
How do you show gratitude? Do the people who have positively impacted your life know how you feel? Living in our COVID-19 world makes you really appreciate good leadership. The right or wrong decisions in this time are literally life or death…
Times of crisis force you to rely on community. Everything macro becomes very micro. You no longer care about what’s happening abroad as much as your local neighborhood. You rely on family and friends to make it through. Or you start to realize the limitations of your current communities. Thankfully I had been very diligent about editing my circle of friends, mentors, etc. for the past couple of years so when the pandemic came I knew I was connected to the right people who could give me support and good advice. Two of the people in my community that I looked up to the most during the crisis were my pastors. I attend Breath of Life International Ministries in Deer Park, Texas, and watching a global pandemic sweep across the world that inflicts so much panic, pain, and fear makes me turn even more to my faith in Yahweh. I know that God has a plan for His people no matter what is going on. Trusting in His word and instructions and giving guidance about His word and instructions is what good Pastors do. But my pastors are more than just good, they are exceptional! Because one of the reasons I attend this ministry is the practical application of the Word of Yahweh in our challenging times, just like a global pandemic. However, another reason I attend is that both of my pastors have higher education degrees and are business professionals so they are not so spiritual that they do not take into account that we live in a modern world. However, they are not so worldly, that they do not lead lives that are true examples of Yeshua in the Earth. Nevertheless, they have lead us beautifully through this crisis. They closed the ministry building to execute caution. But they never missed a beat with providing access to sound teaching and encouragement. To make it plain they did not put us in harm’s way just because they wanted to be defiant of the ‘government.” In fact they teach discipleship and following local government recommendations and laws are the epitome of being a disciple of Yeshua. Further, because of their vision, the Ministry already had a Media Team, equipment, and online platforms for broadcasting and sharing our messages. In other words, the building closed but all that was needed to reach the word was to log on to the device of your choosing. They’re consistent and steady leadership was a breath of fresh air in this crisis. Knowing that someone had a plan and actually wanted to make sure you were safe and supplied spiritually (and naturally - we have resources available) helped provide balance in this hot mess.
I could go on and on about how the Ministry has created an even stronger community in a socially distant time but I think you get the point, they are great leaders! And the reason I want to highlight that is as a nation we are suffering from another illness besides COVID-19, poor leadership. In our hyper-partisan, petty, offensive, ugly, shameful, and divisive political environment it is extremely difficult to trust what you hear, see, or read from all levels of government. This is a mess and NOT what you want in times of crisis. I can only hope that we as a nation learn from our mistakes and make it through this tough time. But if you have people (physically or virtually) in your life who have made it a little easier say thank you!