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“I went to New York to visit my family on March 12 to March 16. I came back Monday happy, cheery, no illnesses at all. I wasn’t until that Tuesday that I woke up and I wasn’t feeling too well. I had a headache my body was aching a little and my breathing got worse and I had developed this cough. I decided to stay home and not go to work that Tuesday. But on Wednesday when I woke up, I felt horrible. I drive trucks and I had to make a delivery to Dalton, Georgia. When I got on the way up there, I was feeling like I could make it. I feel bad but I can make it. I made my delivery, but on my way back, my breathing got worse. Then A sweat broke out on me, and I was sweating really really bad. I was also coughing and my body was aching. So I pulled over, like two exits after my delivery into a gas station, and I called my wife and told her,

“Baby, I don’t feel good at all. Like I really can’t breathe and I just feel horrible.”

And she said,

“Babe, just stay there and I’ll come get you.”

I brought down the windows on the truck and laid down on the seat still gasping for air. I felt my chest getting tighter, and my breathing getting worse, and I am just sweating and sweating and feeling horrible. My son arrived with my son and they took me home. On my wife’s advice, I isolated from her and my son, for a few days, and at this time, my wife is feeling horrible too. She is taking care of me but having symptoms of the Covid-19 too. But her symptoms weren’t as bad as mine because this Covid-19 doesn’t affect everybody the same way. She continued to and still try to look after me. I stayed in the house a few days but my breathing got worse and worse each day. That was the problem. So at point, I felt I really couldn’t take it anymore. I called my wife and she said,

“OK, get dressed. Let’s go to the hospital.”

At the hospital, they first diagnosed me of pneumonia. Then they ran some tests and decided to put me on admission. I called my wife on video and I am telling her,

“I really can’t breathe too well, and so on and so forth.”

A nurse came to the room, took  the phone and spoke to my wife and told her that she may need to put me on a ventilator. I had no idea really what a ventilator was, but I just told her,

“I don’t really need a ventilator. Just give me some oxygen and I’ll be fine.”

My wife is a little more medically inclined than I am so she told me,

“If they need to put you on a ventilator, you need to let them put you on a ventilator.”

I remember turning my head to the right and saying,

“Oh, boy!”   

The next thing I realized, its six days later when I woke up. I was put in a medically-induced coma. During the period, they called my wife everyday to give her updates. First day not too good; second day, not too good, they called my wife and told her ‘

“He’s not doing too well. We don’t know if He’s going to make it. But we are going turn him on his stomach, and that would help.”

They did that because the lungs are more towards the back. So if you lay on your back, you are kind of squishing your lungs, and it’s a little harder for you to breathe. So they put me on my stomach, Which had helped other patients and worked for other people.

Thank God they did, because it worked for me. I woke up and began to get better. I was in the hospital for about three week and they decided I was well enough to come home after the physical therapy and the things I had to do to get better. I was in Piedmont Henry Hospital in Stockbridge, Georgia. It is the best hosp[ital I have ever been in , and I am really, really appreciative of Piedmont Henry Hospital

This thing, the Covid-19, is a very, very serious virus. It is nothing to take lightly no matter who tells you it’s OK not to wear your gloves or your masks; or whatever else they tell you that is good for you to do, to keep from getting sick. Do it, because I almost died.

And to God be the glory for His mercy and grace that I’m here today to tell you my story.

So no matter what anybody tells you, wear your protection, your gloves; stay at a safe distance from people. Stay out of crowds.

Please do what you can to keep yourself and your family safe. Children are dying from this too. This is not an older person disease. I am not all that old, and I don’t have any underlying medical conditions. You’ll save other people’s lives by staying safe yourself. You help other people by helping yourself.

God bless you all, and may you all stay under God’s mercy and grace.”

I took my time to transcribe this video interview, granted by 53 year-old Lorenzo Jackson to 95.5 WSB of Atlanta. I think we are letting our guards down with this Covid-19. It is human nature to do so because it is a lot of work, and we are not used to it. But we have to be cautious. I learnt this week that even those who have been ill before can get re-infected in 3 to 4 months. That means you don’t really get long-term immunity after getting infected. We need to be careful. We need to be vigilant. I look at Lorenzo’s story and I realize it was just by God’s mercies that he is alive because he delayed for days when he started having breathing difficulties, and even resisted it when they wanted to put him on a ventilator! Thank God, we know more about Covid-19 now, than we knew in February, and I am very confident the medics are better and well equipped with information to manage it now.

Don’t wait! Seek help when you feel ill, especially when your symptoms match the Covid-19 symptoms.

Lorenzo rightly attributed his recovery to God’s glory, grace and mercy. But God has always worked with us to fulfill His will in our lives, and we don’t have to take that for granted. That is just how it is. You can watch “The Purpose For Prayer “ by Myles Munroe to understand why God will always want to partner us.

There are many examples in the Bible, but I will take that of the greatest miracle in Christianity, and indeed in history: The Birth of Jesus Christ!  

READ Luke 1:26-38

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her,

“Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her,

“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

Then Mary said to the angel,

“How can this be, since I do not know a man?”

And the angel answered and said to her,

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.”

Then Mary said,

“Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.”

And the angel departed from her.

 (Luke 1:26-38 NKJV)

“Let it be to me according to your word.”  God needed a partnership with Mary to let the Jesus miracle happen! And Mary submitted and did her part. Many would probably ask,

“If He is God, and sovereign, why does He need humans to intervene on this earth?”

The question contains the answer – “He is God, and sovereign!”

His sovereignty binds Him to His word. So when He says,

“Let them have dominion…over all the earth…” (Genesis 1:26)

His words bind Him! And he always waits for an invitation, before He intervenes on this earth! That is why Jesus always prayed, and taught us to pray too! And because God is a spirit, He often partners human beings to let things happen here! He partners us, the medics, the researchers and the policy makers, to make things happen.

As God is doing His part, let us do our part too. Let us take care, and stay safe!

MEMORY VERSE

“Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” (Matthew 10:16)

QUESTIONS

1. Do you think God always works in isolation, and does not involve humans?   

2. Why not look at the scriptures more critically? He partners humans often, to let His will be done.

PRAYER TIP

Almighty Father, we promise to do our part, as you do your part, to fulfill Your will on this earth.

Written by:

BENNY MALM

For:

TESTIMONY DEVOTIONAL

URGENT CALL

If you don’t know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Personal Savior, you need to do that now!

Please visit “The Believer’s Prayer” for guidance.

We will be happy to hear from you through the contact information on that page. God bless you.

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We thank God for counting us worthy to share in His Great Commission.