My first reaction to the COVID outbreak wasn’t fear—it was something beyond the natural.
Almost everyone around me, except my wife, responded to the news with fear. Day after day, they followed the updates—the reports, the rising numbers, the death toll.
But as I was led by the Holy Spirit, I sensed there was no need to fix my attention on the news. I hardly watched it. At most, I caught a few headlines or heard brief updates in those early days.
I believed that in Jesus’ name, I had authority over COVID-19. I was fully convinced that Psalm 91 is absolute truth. I had also heard accounts of John G. Lake during the bubonic plague, when even the disease could not survive contact with him. The same resurrection life of Jesus lives in us—we are called to stand in that truth.
I’m not afraid of dying. To die is gain. But I don’t want to leave before finishing what I’ve been called to do. I don’t want to die prematurely.
That’s why we shouldn’t simply accept everything as it comes. We need to discern rightly and take our stand. We fight with the Word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit, holding to what is true until we overcome.
Bubonic Plague Germs Die
When the devastating bubonic plague broke out, most people were too afraid to enter infected homes. But John G. Lake stepped forward. He cared for the sick and buried the dead—without any form of protection.
At one point, a doctor sent for him and asked, “What have you been doing to protect yourself?”
Lake replied, “I believe that as long as I keep my soul in contact with the living God so that His Spirit is flowing into my soul and body, that no germ will ever attach itself to me, for the Spirit of God will kill it.”
To demonstrate this, Lake invited the doctor to conduct an experiment. The doctor collected foam from the lungs of a plague victim and placed it under a microscope. It was teeming with living germs.
At Lake’s request, the doctor then placed the infected material on Lake’s hand. As they observed it under the microscope, the doctor was astonished—the germs died instantly.
Lake explained, “That is the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. When a man’s spirit and body are filled with the presence of God, it oozes out of the flesh and the pores and it kills the germs.”
Pre-emptive Preparation
In December 2019, just as COVID-19 was beginning to spread, my wife and I traveled to three countries for a vacation. While staying in an Airbnb in Bangkok, we sensed the Holy Spirit prompting us to begin taking Holy Communion regularly.
Until then, we had only partaken of Communion during Sunday church services. But the Holy Spirit impressed on us that there was more to it—that we could receive it with understanding and revelation, anytime and anywhere.
In 1 Corinthians 11:23–26, we read that some believers became weak, sick, and even died prematurely because they took Communion in an unworthy manner. But what happens when it is taken in a worthy manner—when we truly discern and honor the Lord’s sacrifice? Would it not release life?
Later that month, while we were in Malaysia, I had two consecutive dreams about the power of speaking truth—declaring it boldly into situations that seemed impossible, even terminal illness.
It became clear to me that God was preparing us in advance to respond supernaturally to what was coming.
Then in March 2020, as news of COVID-19 intensified, I sensed God asking me, “What is the one thing you would regret not doing, whether COVID-19 exists or not? If you have a race to run, keep running. Stay focused, remain calm, and follow My lead.”
So I did. I stayed focused on the assignment God had given me, rather than being consumed by the news.
Around that time, I also had another dream. I saw believers leaving a place of light and wandering into darkness. One by one, they were being attacked by lions hidden in tall grass.
What we choose to focus on matters. Our thoughts can lead us into the darkness of fear and anxiety—or into the light of hope and faith. Fear and worry create an opening for the enemy to steal, kill, and destroy.
COVID-like Symptoms Strike
In 2022, there were two occasions when I went out, and later that night, after returning home, I began to feel symptoms—a sore throat and fever.
I wondered, Could this be COVID? I didn’t want to take any chances, so I chose to confront it immediately.
I got up and began to speak:
In the name of Jesus, I speak to you COVID-19, I command you to be uprooted from my body. I resist you in the name of Jesus. The blood of Jesus took away all my sickness. By the stripes of Jesus, I have been healed. Jesus bore the COVID-19 virus and all sickness at the cross for me. I refuse this virus to remain in my body in Jesus’ name.
I have the resurrection life of Jesus flowing in me. I’m covered by the blood of Jesus. I have a covenant of healing by the blood of Jesus. The Lord is my Healer. The Lord heals all my diseases.
I’m a new creation in Christ. Jesus is the resurrection and He is in me. He is my resurrection. His Life is reigning in my body, soul, and spirit. I speak death to COVID-19 in my body. You cannot remain in me. You are being swallowed up by the resurrection life of Jesus.
I have not received a spirit of fear but a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. As Jesus is, so I am in this world. Jesus is free of COVID-19 and I’m a member of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. I have His health and life flowing in me. I’m the branch connected to the True Vine. His Life is flowing and reigning in me. I speak the Shalom of Jesus to my mind, body, and spirit.
After speaking like that with conviction, I went back to sleep.
By morning, the symptoms were gone.
This happened twice.
Vaccine Shots
At first, we hadn’t taken any vaccine shots. We were convinced that we didn’t need them. There were also ongoing debates and concerns about potential side effects, which added to our hesitation.
However, in 2022, we needed to travel. To avoid quarantine restrictions in other countries, we decided to take the required doses.
As we did, we held on to what Scripture says—that if we drink anything deadly it will not harm us. So when we received the vaccination, we prayed and declared that it would not produce any side effects in Jesus’ name.
Swing the Sword
Mainstream media isn’t always the source of truth. It often presents facts—but those facts can be framed and repeated in ways that shape how we think and what we come to accept.
For me, God’s Word is the higher truth. His truth can stand above and even override what we see in the natural—but we have to be fully convinced of it.
So when something confronts me, I don’t accept it immediately. I pause and discern the Holy Spirit’s witness within me. If I sense that it isn’t God’s will for my life, I refuse to accept unnecessary suffering or loss. I won’t allow the enemy to steal what God has given.
Instead, I take hold of God’s truth and go on the offensive—like Samson swinging the jawbone and striking down what stood against him. I speak truth over the facts. I declare it with conviction and understanding, and I continue until I see breakthrough. Over the years, I’ve fixed things supernaturally in ways that logic alone could never have resolved.
My point is simple: at least take a stand. Don’t passively accept everything that comes your way. Don’t give up too quickly. You may find out in heaven that some things weren’t God’s will.
We shouldn’t blame God for what He never intended. Sometimes, it’s unbelief—or failing to seek His wisdom—that allows things to be lost or stolen from us.
There is a place for enduring hardship within God’s will. But unnecessary suffering, especially through ignorance, is something we need to guard against. When you’re hit, don’t retreat—stand firm, and respond by holding even more tightly to God’s Word.
What Will You Regret Not Doing?
In closing, I want to leave you with the same question God once asked me: no matter what is happening around you, what is the one thing you would regret not doing—the thing you know you’re meant to do?
Are you discerning the opportunities before you? Are you fully stepping into them?
I once heard Lance Wallnau make a striking statement about premature death: an unfinished assignment can be a form of protection. When God calls you into something, stepping into that calling positions you not as a casualty, but as someone preserved for a purpose.
There’s a depth to this that isn’t always easy to explain. But when you are actively engaged in what God has called you to do, there is a kind of covering—a sense of divine purpose that carries weight. It’s different from drifting without direction.
We see this in the life of Paul the Apostle. During the shipwreck and even when he was bitten by a snake, he remained unharmed. Why? Because Jesus had already declared that he would stand before Caesar in Rome (Acts 27:24). Paul had an unfinished assignment—and that mattered.
There is something powerful about living with that kind of clarity.
The safest place to be is in the middle of what God has called you to do—right in the center of an assignment not yet finished.