A tough fight By Eitan Shishkoff Oct 5, 2021
I’m now a COVID Survivor! How does it feel when this Coronavirus takes over your body? I can tell you from personal experience. It feels like you got hit by an 18-wheeler!
If anyone doubts the seriousness of this disease, let me tell you, it can pack a wallop. I was in isolation for 19 days, cared for hour after hour by my beyond-the-call-of-duty wife, Connie. Now, I’m experiencing life anew.
Tenderly Grateful for your Prayers!
May I take this opportunity to thank each of you who expressed concern, love, and the commitment to pray for me? I take none of this for granted. God raised me up, responding to your prayers.
I contracted Covid during the Katzir (Harvest) Summer Teen Conference. Some 72 others, youth, counselors, and senior advisors also tested positive. The majority had only light symptoms, and the bottom line was not the disease! The bottom line was that almost every young person at the conference experienced a deep encounter with the Living God.
Here is my personal list of conclusions after going through the tough fight and dark tunnel of Covid
LOVE is the chief thing
There is nothing so dear as a selfless, caring spouse
Take PRAYER seriously—so many were praying. There was definite impact.
LIFE is a deposit from God for His gain. He’s entrusted me with days on the earth to use/live for His pleasure.
Cherish every DAY. Develop a SLOWER “speed” in my internal “mental-emotional” clock.
Be more PATIENT. Some things just take time. Besides all the meds and steam inhalation and rest, I could not speed up the healing process.
The BODY is fragile—very fragile. Handle with care.
Keep life SIMPLE
PERSEVERANCE – Don’t give up!
How can we all prepare for the days ahead?
Flat on my back with Covid for over two weeks, I had plenty of time to consider life’s fundamental question: What, in addition to basic physical existence, is truly important? After being handed back my health, what am I now to be doing with the days I’ve been granted? Indeed, what will we all do with the remaining days we’ve been granted.
Among the crucial pursuits, I believe we should dedicate ourselves to preparing for the coming of our King…
“Prepare the Way of the Lord!”
This biblical imperative appears in Isaiah 40:3. The prophet is speaking of the ultimate arrival of the Redeemer, who will bring the glory of God to the whole earth. It’s a moving passage that brims with hope and expectation. But what does it mean for us? As we are seemingly caught in a roller coaster of:
hellish Islamic holy war,
a virus that has “gone viral,” and
widespread economic woes?
How can one prepare for an uncertain and threatening future? Is there additional instruction beyond Isaiah’s poetic passage? Importantly, yes! The theme of preparation for the return of the King can be easily traced through the Scriptures. God is not leaving us unprepared. He will equip us and guide us through to Yeshua’s final victory over all evil.
1. Stay Close to the Lord: Inner Preparation of the Heart
As always, God gives priority to our inner reality, the condition of our heart. Knowing that these times will be fearful, He exhorts us to place our confidence solidly in Him and in the soon coming of our King.
“Abide in Him, that when He appears we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.” (1 John 2:28)
“Therefore be patient, brethren until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and the latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” (James 5:7-8)
1. Be Watchful in Prayer: Going Deeper in Intercession
The place of true prayer, sometimes pushed to the side in our busy lives, becomes front and center as the curtain opens on history’s final act.
“The end of all things is at hand, therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things, have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:7-8)
“Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to come through all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:36)
III. Share your Faith Lovingly and Boldly, in the Power of the Spirit: End of the Age Harvest
What is the Father’s burden as we approach the Day of the Lord? It is to gather in every one of His human children who will repent and become His daughter or son. And we are His messengers, to carry His heart everywhere we go!
“This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14)
“On my menservants and on my maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days…before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” (Joel 2:29-32)
In light of the increasing urgency of the circumstances around us, the focus He is calling us to, is to prepare for the coming of the Lord. May His grace and peace empower us.
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