Samuel Rodriguez Wants You to Overcome Struggles with God’s Power

The Covid-19 Pandemic brought the Rodriguez family a severe test of faith. 

“'Sam, I’m taking Yvonne to the emergency room—she has a fever and she’s . . . she’s gasping for breath.’”  My wife’s voice choked with emotion then as only a mother’s can for her child. “'I think she has the virus.’” Sam and Eva’s grown daughter, Yvonne, the mother of two young children, indeed tested positive, and had to be hospitalized. With strict hospital rules, they couldn’t even be with her there.  The situation went from bad to worse as Yvonne was transferred to the ICU, placed on a ventilator, and given strong steroids. 

During those days, Sam’s mind became a battleground. “To combat the worst-case scenarios darting through my mind” he says, “I took every thought captive and clung to the promises of God in His Word. I know He is inherently good and loves His children. I know that by the power of His Spirit and the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, I can do all things.” 

After much prayer, two weeks in the hospital, and treatment with antibodies from a recovered Covid patient, Yvonne began her recovery. Those dark days tested Sam’s faith like never before. “In fact, if you are like me, you are probably tempted to feel overwhelmed by the times in which we live. Political division and social distancing; civil unrest and systemic racism; bankrupt morality and cultural promiscuity. We could each make our own lengthy lists of the triggers of tension in our lives right now,” he stated. 

“The toll of such ongoing, unrelenting stress leads to chronic anxiety, depression and fatigue. Whom can we trust for truth in the swirl of so much sensationalism, social media spin and fake news? We truly live in unprecedented times, and the cumulative weight of so much pain, grief, anger and negativity can shatter our lives and derail our relationship with God—if we let it.”

Pastor Rodriguez applies what he learned during those painful days to life in today’s dark world. 

“I reflected upon the symbolism of my daughter’s treatment. The more I considered everything I had learned about the way viruses attack the human body, the more similarities I saw in the assault of evil on our spiritual health. It presented a unique illustration, metaphorically and spiritually speaking, of what takes place when a spiritual virus gets an inroad into our souls, our hearts, our faith, our families and our communities. A virus is a microscopic infectious entity, a foreign substance that seeks living cells for the purpose of replicating itself. In other words, it does not belong where it lands just as darkness does not belong in our souls. Evil always seeks to kill and destroy. The enemy, like a virus, persists in tempting us with defeat until we grow weaker and more vulnerable. At the very worst, we give up and allow sin into our lives, which affects every area, every decision, every relationship.
There is an antidote, however. Hope—the unwavering belief in the goodness of God—counter-attacks darkness like powerful antibodies. Antibodies recognize foreign substances like bacteria and viruses, and neutralize them. They also stay on guard in order to provide protection against future exposures. Do you see the spiritual connection?”

THE PERSEVERANCE OF ELIJAH AND ELISHA

Pastor Rodriguez is convinced that 1 Kings, chapters 18 and 19 speak to this very hour in which we live.

“Our world, spiritually speaking, bears a remarkable resemblance to the time of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, leaders of Israel who not only served as antagonists for Elijah and Elisha but also represent the antithesis of everything holy,” he explains.  “Simply put, Ahab was a horrible king and a mucho malo hombre. And his wife was even worse—evil on steroids!” 

He says the biblical prophets Elijah and Elisha serve as examples of perseverance in the darkest of surroundings.  

“If Elijah and Elisha had given up and stopped trusting God, then they would have missed out. If they had not persevered with pushing their respective plows, one metaphorical and the other literal, then they would have missed the mantle of blessing God had for them. We know via the conduit of historical contextualization that as a farmer at this season Elisha would wake up, push the plow, break the ground and sow the seed. It is no coincidence that the man who pushed the plow ended up carrying the mantle. Plowing fields implies repetition in uniformed rows that follow a consistent pattern. Rhythm and fluidity are required in order to push through hard, rocky terrain or to navigate through soft, muddy ground. Plowing was tedious, strenuous work undertaken by those dedicated to the necessity of providing food not only for their own survival but for their families, tribes and communities.

PERSEVERANCE AND GOD’S MANTLE

Pastor Rodriguez discusses at some length the mantle transferred from Elijah, after being taken up by a chariot of fire to heaven, to Elisha, and how the same biblical principles apply to us as we persevere in our callings. 

“Being determined to persevere, to keep pushing our plows, is the only way we can regain or build our spiritual momentum. If we are to experience the fullness of all God has for us and receive our mantles of promotion, we must trust Him for all our needs and not be distracted, disrupted or disturbed by the interruptions, obstacles and adversaries in our paths. We are sons and daughters of the King, created in our Creator’s holy image, co-heirs with Jesus Christ, and immortal beings temporarily in mortal bodies.”

“Our enemy, the devil,” he continues, “knows that the way to stop us in our spiritual tracks is by tempting, threatening and taunting us. Once we have accepted the free gift of salvation through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, once we have God’s Spirit living within us, then the enemy knows he cannot have us for eternity—but he can still neutralize us. He can undermine our faith, plant seeds of doubt and fear, tempt us to disobey God, and deceive us with lies that distort the truth of God’s Word. Once the enemy gets a foothold in our lives, once he gets inside our heads, then he can prevent us from experiencing the abundant life of a joyful purpose for God’s Kingdom,” he says.

Rodriguez then points to the correlation between getting what we request from a good and loving Father and treating other people as we ourselves long to be treated. “In other words, our motives for making particular requests matter. If we are asking only for what is good for us, then we are missing the opportunity to be a conduit of blessing for others. When we are focused only on our own gain, then, ironically, we lose our double portion. When we get impatient and try to sew our mantle together instead of waiting on God’s timing for the next one He has for us, then we should not wonder why our homemade garment lacks spiritual power.”