Anne Graham Lotz, the daughter of the late Pastor Billy Graham, recently shared her message in a blog post regarding Coronavirus pandemic with Exodus 19:9, where God said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you."
In the message titled, "Is There a Blessing in the Coronavirus?" Posted on March 23, Anne explained her own experience meeting God in "in a fresh way" in the midst of hardship and dark moment of her life.
"In the past four years, I, too, have entered into a black, terrifying cloud. My husband's sudden, unexpected death; my father's death three years later; my diagnosis of cancer and the subsequent surgery and follow-up treatments have been personal storms as fiercely threatening as the storm that has now broken upon all of us," She explained.
"But there was a silver lining to the black cloud in my life because it was in the cloud where I encountered God in a fresh way," She added.
She experienced to hear the voice of God like Moses did in a dense cloud. "As I have prayed, a dramatic scene from the Old Testament has unfolded before my mind's eye which I would like to describe for you. It took place when the recently freed Israelite slaves were camped at the base of Mount Sinai." "God spoke to Moses, the man He had used to liberate the people from bondage in Egypt. The Lord said to Moses: I shall come to you in a thick cloud, in order that the people may hear when I speak... The Bible then goes on to describe the thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud....[1]" Said Anne Graham Lotz.
"I have "seen" His glory...His character...in the dark cloud. I have experienced God's faithfulness to meet my needs, His grace to pour out His blessings through family and friends, His strength to enable me to endure triumphantly, and His goodness to bring me through one day at a time. Throughout the four stormy years, I never once lost my joy, or my inner peace, or the steadfast hope that God was in control and would work out all things for my good." she shared.
She also emphasized that there may be a "blessing in the coronavirus" in that God is perhaps using the pandemic "to get our attention so that we will listen to His message," and that this will spark a "national spiritual renewal."
"It's time to pray! It's time to turn away from our sin, self-centeredness and secularism, and turn to God in faith and trust. Now" "could it be that God is using the coronavirus to get our attention so that we will listen to His message?" she asked and shared bible scripture about our prayer.
"This is what the Lord says: When I shut up the heavens so there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land, or send a plague among My people, if My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered..."
At the end, she concluded her message with the prayer.
"Lord God, as we sincerely place our faith in You, have mercy on us! Please! Hear our prayer. Forgive our sin. Heal our land.
As we repent of our sin and return to You, return to us! There is no one like You to help the powerless against this mighty disease."
Anne is a 71 years old author of 12 books, and her most recent is 'Storming the Gates of Heaven; Prayer that Claims the Promises of God'. She has three children. Her husband, Dr. Daniel Lotz, died in 2015.
