God writes through Paul,
“…faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:13 (NASB)
God also says,
“Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of [b]their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their foreheads and on their hands; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.”
Revealtion 20:4,5 (NASB)
The world can look pretty bleak these days. If you listen very much to news, podcasts, movies and practically anything else in the media, it is easy to become convinced that there is little hope for the future.
I remember when I was in junior high school my young mind was subjected to a showing of the film “Silent Spring,” which foretold an ecological disaster resulting in mankind perishing, in the not-too-distant future, due to the poisoning of our planet. I remembered being very troubled after that, feeling that it was unfair that all the grown ups were wrecking the world before I had even a chance to live in it.
That was over 50 years ago
The truth is, things are not that bad, and even if they are, God promises that there will soon be peace for a thousand years. Moreover, even when we face difficult things in this world, as we are led by His Spirit, we can navigate through them successfully.
The world is trying to drive humanity, through fear, into a mindset where they will accept the antichrist. The reason that there are wars and rumors of wars is to force people to give up everything to gain peace and safety at any cost. Some Christian believers, seeing bad things taking place, fall into the trap of anticipating only a negative outcome of their lives, even though they serve an almighty God. They feel paralyzed to move forward in Him because they think everything is pointless.
Remember these things:
Noah survived a world-wide flood that killed everyone else
The children of Israel walked on dry ground through the Red Sea
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego survived the fiery furnace unharmed
Daniel sat all night in the lions’ den and was safe
Until Jesus chose to lay down His life for His sheep, no one could harm Him
Jesus rose from the dead
Paul was stoned to death, but rose from the dead and continued his ministry
The point is, when we are following our Lord, doing His will and trusting in Him, the whole world can be going to hell, but we will be taken up to heaven. This includes our children.
Therefore, let us not modify our lives for fear of what may happen, but live our lives based upon Who we know and what He says to us daily. Even a woman who becomes pregnant the day of the rapture will give birth to her child in a New Heavens and New Earth.
Let us all encourage each other to focus upon whatever portion of the work that God has given us to do while it is yet day. Do not allow a spirit of fear to keep you from doing anything that Jesus leads you to do, because if He says you can do it, it is possible, and nothing on earth can stop you.
