From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bishop Bart Pierce of Baltimore, Maryland, has clearly heard the voice of God. What God told Pierce is that the coronavirus was “like a woman experiencing birth pains.”
Only it is the church who is experiencing the pain, and COVID-19 has been what Pierce calls “a major contraction” for the church—a “wake-up call” to bring a shift to our nation so we can see massive revival.
“All through Scripture you see that illustration in the Old and New Testament—crises and events like this were referred to as a woman who would be having labor pains,” Pierce told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. “I believe this was a major contraction for us, as a woman who is pregnant. She goes from one contraction to another because she knows others are coming.
“I don’t believe this is the end, but I believe it’s the hand of God to warn us and remind us that He is serious about dealing with the nations of the world. And if God’s people will repent as we come out of this contraction, the Bible says in Ephesians, we must ‘redeem the time for the days are evil.’ I believe this contraction should have an enormous effect on the body of Christ and on God’s people, especially our leaders, to the degree that we will come out of this stronger and more focused.
“But I believe we will face another contraction. And they usually get stronger, and they get shorter between them as the Lord is approaching, as the birth is about to happen. I believe God’s people needed a wake-up call, and God’s people need to answer it because the nation will just go on doing the same thing. God’s people can bring about a shift to change is if we use this as an opportunity. I believe we could see a massive harvest and tremendous reformation of change. If we don’t change coming out of this, the next contraction will come faster.”
For more about Bishop Bart Pierce’s thoughts on the future of the church, listen to the entire podcast.