Editor’s Note: This reflection and artwork come from artist and Jesus follower Ellie Escobar, who lives on Vancouver Island. Since I met Ellie last fall on an airplane to Washington, D.C., and shared her story and testimony with you in January, she has followed our blog and sent me regular encouragement from God’s Word. Ellie has expressed on several occasions that she has been praying for us, her sisters in the Lord here in Oregon. Ellie’s sister and her Bible study group in Europe have also prayed for us. What a gift, especially as we enter the uncharted waters of COVID-19. With Ellie’s permission, we are posting her words to me this past week along with a piece of her artwork that is especially fitting. Many Blessings, Jaime Sherman
Yes, all we hear in the news is about the coronavirus pandemic, and as I told you, at first I was worried and anxious and prayed obsessively to the LORD to keep us safe. But after those first days, and reading more earnestly His Word and praying more quietly — it’s only then you can hear His voice — I realized that as He is sovereign over all His creation He is perfectly in control and knows exactly what He’s doing. I also watched a sermon from Charles Stanley in which he said that in order to grow spiritually we have to “totally surrender” to Jesus Christ. It’s exactly what I did.
So now, of course, I take care of myself as well as following all necessary precautions to avoid the sickness, but I stopped worrying about it and got my God’s peace back. Ahhhh, what a relief! Now I think that this may be an answer to our prayers to make people sensitive to the fragility of life and make them turn their eyes to the only possible solution — seeking God in repentance and faith. What else could make them stop in their lives and realize that they are totally dependent on God and His mercy?
We have to be like the lighthouse light that guides the ships to a safe shore when they’re in panic in the midst of a strong, dark and roaring storm. About us and our dear ones, only God decides the time and the hour when we will be called home. Even before the foundation of the world, He knew exactly when our time will come, not a second more or less. So we just have to keep on praying and working in our labor, keeping us and our homes clean and beautiful because our Divine Groom might come for us at any time to take us with Him to the mansions He already has prepared for us to spend an indescribable eternal joy with Him! Then we’ll see all this, our actual big worries, like a fading mist, totally unimportant. So cheer up! He’s coming soon! — In Jesus’ Love, Ellie Escobar