The bank of clouds now swept hugely out of the western sky.  Its front was purple and black, with gray between, a bulging, mushrooming, vast thing instinct with storm.  It had dark, angry, threatening aspect.  As if all the power of the winds were pushing and piling behind, it rolled ponderously across the sky.  A red flare burned out instantaneously, flashed from the west to east, and died.  Then from the deepest black of the purple cloud burst a boom.  It was like the bowling of a huge boulder along the crags and ramparts, and seemed to roll on and fall into the valley to bound and band and boom from cliff to cliff.”
              –Zane Grey (Riders of the Purple Sage)

    “He stirs up the sea with His power, and by His understanding He breaks up the storm.”
              –Job 26:12 (NKJV)
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My mercy, it looks like a double-whammy is on its way this week.  Two hurricanes are converging on Louisiana and Texas and only time will tell of their fury.  Storms – we can try to run away, but a person just can’t get away from storms.  A tornado lowers its deadly tail and people head for the storm shelters.  Interesting term–“storm shelter”–for what is it really?  Psalm 46:1-7, speaks of a shelter.  Storms of nature and storms of nations can be found in the shelter that God provides.

    1 – God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble.
    2 – Therefore we will not be afraid, though the earth trembles and the mountains topple into the depths of the seas,
    3 – though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with its turmoil. Selah
    4 – There is a river—its streams delight the city of God, the holy dwelling place of the Most High.
    5 – God is within her; she will not be toppled.  God will help her when the morning dawns.
    6 – Nations rage, kingdoms topple; the earth melts when He lifts His voice.
    7 – The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.  Selah (HCSB)

Spend some time meditating and contemplating of this portion of Psalm 46.  Right from the beginning it adds to our hope and faith:  He is “always found in times of trouble.”  WOW!  He is the God who is there in the midst of chaos, confusion, and calamity.  He is the God who is there is the midst of suffering, sorrow, and even death.
    The enemy of our souls will whisper, some in the streets might cry out–“Where is God?”  Ah, my friend, He is there; He is always there.  George Wood puts it this way, “You have a choice:  Trust God and do not fear, or mistrust Him and fail.  You will get no emotional benefit or comfort from His presence unless you realize He is there:  your refuge, strength, and help.”  Nations rage, viruses come and devastate, fear grows and is urged on, there is terror in the streets and Satan is laughing.  However, he cannot and will not laugh when you realize that God is there in the midst of all that the enemy throws at the world and at you.
    Who knows what will happen when the two hurricanes collide?  Who knows what will happen in the streets of our cities?  Who knows what will happen to the kingdoms of this world; a world that has only known war, pain, and sorrow?  But, you oh Christian!  Realize that God is there beside you whatever may befall.
    Thunderstorms!  I like a good old thunderstorm.  I used to be afraid of them, but now I enjoy them.  I see the power they have.  When the lightning cracks and pops, when the thunder rolls it can be a fearful thing, but I see them as something created by God and they are only a smidgen of His power.  What is around His throne?  We think that is power, look at what happens when He lifts His voice–oh my.  
    So don’t fear–run to God, run to the fortress that is your refuge and strength.  Just think, one day we will live in that city that cannot be touched by storm, by evil, by sin, by war, or by the threats of the devil.

         “A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
          Our helper he amid the flood or mortal ills prevailing.
          For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
          His craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate,
          On earth is not his equal.”
                   –Martin Luther

So when the devil squawks, when there is a flood of disease, when he tries to kill and destroy you–remember, God is there, run to Him.

I guess a man walks along the edge of the unknown all the time.”
              –Wayne D. Overholser  (Day of Judgment)

    “Wisdom rests in the heart of him who has understanding, But what is in the heart of fools is made known.”
              –Proverbs 13:33(NKJV)
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Oh me, oh my — “There we saw the giants…” (Numbers 13:33).  These people saw things with one perspective, while there were two that said, “Sure there were giants but they are our meat.”  Quite a difference.  We are seeing that same thing with this “corona giant” that we are facing today.  Wear masks vs. no masks don’t help.  Stay inside vs. go about your own business.  Don’t group up vs. get back to school.  Who is correct?  For sure this is a “giant.”
    Even among believers there is a vast difference of opinion.  Can all be wrong, for sure they can’t all be right?  What about other giants that may come your way–a hurricane for example, do you board up and leave, or stay with your house and protect it?  Do you err on the side of precaution, or err in the midst of the storm?
    Let’s look at the account again and here I’ll borrow from Norman S. Marshall, as he tells the story.

         “A point of view is exceedingly important.  Israel’s spies sent into Canaan to estimate its riches, resources, and people brought back a majority and a minority report.  Ten spies spoke highly of the land and its treasures.  They saw walled cities and armies.  They said to Moses, ‘Surely it is a land that floweth with milk and honey.’ However, they added: ‘The people are strong’; ‘The cities are walled’; We are not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we’; ‘There we saw the giants.’
         The minority report came from two spies who saw all the same things and measured the same me, but they said to Moses: ‘Let us go up at once and possess the land’; ‘If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us’; Only rebel not yet against the Lord.’
         What a difference in report, in outlook, in faith!  All of us in every age, in every situation, face enemies and temptations and fears.  ‘If God is, then what ought to be can be.’  Love God!  Trust God!”

Now we are not to be stupid, but we are not to live in fear.  Fear counters faith.  We cannot deny that many believers have died in their faith.  There are those who died in war, by disease who were believers, did they not have faith?  Why didn’t God keep them?  He did!  He kept them in the palm of His hand.  In the midst of bullets flying, He was there.  On the deathbed, He was there.  Why didn’t He keep them alive may be a better question, but never deny that He did keep them.  
    Attitude is vital.  “He will deliver us from your hand, O king.  But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods…” (Daniel 3:17-18, NKJV).  It would be better to be burned in the fiery furnace than to rebel against the King of kings.  Rebellion is one of the keys.  The ten rebelled against God’s Word, and against Moses.  Fear replaced faith.  They looked at the scenario in from of them and they knew they had a chance to die if they went into the land.  Here we see that leadership failed, for they were leaders of their tribes, chosen for this special task.  Yes, they might die, but they would serving God, but now, their bones would bleached white in the wilderness because of their unbelief.
    Now that doesn’t answer your questions about the “corona giant” that we are facing.  Or does it?  Do not rebel against God’s Word.  Do not let fear dominate your life.  Walk forward knowing that God is with you, no matter what happens.  And let me say, without sounding fatalistic or being morbid, when the Lord wants to call you home He will, no matter how many times you wash your hands, no matter how often you wear your mask, no matter how you try to avoid people, when your time comes you will go.

He has to worry about what might happen, so he will be ready for it if it does not happen; and the only thing he can’t be downright sure of is that if what he was afraid of doesn’t happen, something else will.”
              –Louis L’Amour  (Chancy)

    “So brace up your minds, and, as men who know what they are doing, rest the full weight of your hopes on the grace that will be yours when Jesus Christ reveals himself.”
              –1 Peter 1:13 (Phillips)
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I can stand to be around most people, that is when I want to be around people.  However, there is one group that just makes my stomach churn.  If anything can come close to putting me in a rage it is this type of person–the whiny baby!  There seems to be more and more of them showing up.  Smiles that gloat, but don’t dare ask them for an honest day’s work.
    The sniveller that is very annoying is the one who says “it is so hard to be an adult.”  Poor baby, boo-hoo.  Get on with life!  I have many thoughts regarding adolescence, most are not so good.  The old days are gone, at least in this country of going from childhood to adulthood.  We have stuck that awful version of “teenager” in the middle.  Perhaps it was necessary with the schooling that is now required, but in that same schooling we have coddled the juveniles for fear of hurting their self-esteem and have created a new being, call them the:  snowflake, the twinkie, the cupcake.
    These are those who are now currently crying out for the minimum wage to be raised to a ridiculous amount.  Why, well, their reasoning is absurd, but underneath it is that they can’t handle more than an entry-level job.  These are also the same ones who are crying for their student loans to be absolved, to be cancelled.  Why?  It’s a debt and they should have counted the cost before they took out the loan.  These are the same ones that are begging for socialism; they want you to give your hard-earned money to them, the reason–so they don’t have to work.  That shows how much they know about socialism for in that type of economic/governmental system the “state” places you in a position and the “state” gives you quotas.
    So hard, oh so hard to be an adult.  Well then, you probably weren’t raised to accept responsibility.  I had a student once ask me if I thought he was an adult.  My response was, do you accept responsibility?  He sort of hung his head and walked away.  I hope he has learned some lessons.  One of the most important things a parent can do is to “train up a child.”  Training involves discipline.  The job of the parent is to get a child ready so they can be an adult, not a whiny baby.
    The whiny baby is seen in Proverbs 26:13, “…There is a lion in the road!  A fierce lion is in the streets!”  The next verse continues, “As a door turns on its hinges, so does the lazy man on his bed.” (26:14, NKKV)  Can’t you just hear the sniffing and the whiny as he makes the excuse, “I can’t be an adult, I can’t go to work–there is a lion out there”?
    One more thing to consider were the whiney-babies that Moses had to deal with.  “Oh, no, we’re but grasshoppers; they’ll kill us,” and with that whining they wandered in the wilderness until they were all day.  Beware of the whiners, the snowflakes, the twinkies for they will most certainly cause you problems.  Just think, whine, whine, whine and they were kept out of the Promised Land.
    So “brace up your minds,” or as the NKJV states, “gird up the loins of your minds,” or the NASB, “prepare you minds for action”!  Don’t be a namby-pamby, frilly, whiny baby sort of person.  Fulfill your purpose, grow up, face what the Lord has allowed come your way whether by your own foolishness, someone else’s, or the devil’s evil plans.  Just for goodness sake–quit whining!