For anyone who’s paying attention to what’s going on in the world-rather than listening to the scripts recited dutifully in what hardly passes for “news,”
what is happening world-wide is alarming!
Over half a million cargo containers float off the coast of California, as the ships wait in endless lines to be unloaded. Truckers, who only get paid per load, not per hour, wait for their rigs to be loaded for days. How long can that last?
In Lebanon, desperate people try to break into locked banks after the regime announced they were not going to be allowed access to their savings, which were frozen by the regime.
Chinese fighter jets have repeatedly violated Taiwan’s declared airspace hundreds of times. As of yesterday, there are many reporting that Taiwan shot down a Chinese jet.
In Australia, the former penal colony has resumed its original design, locking down and viciously beating citizens who dare to protest the loss of their freedoms. I’ve watched in horror as policemen beat women and men who were peacefully protesting the Orwellian government. Those who protest on social platforms are shocked when the police knock on their doors.
Natural disasters are increasing, just as Jesus told His disciples they would as the world neared the end of this age. According to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report that was released last Friday, 2021 has already seen 18 weather and climate disasters, each with losses topping $1 billion dollars.
I could go on listing the evil and fearful things going on in the nations, but as a follower of Jesus, rather than continually rehearsing the chaos of this world, I rejoice in God’s sovereignty. There’s no panic in Heaven, only the working out on the earth of God’s plan.
The stage is being set for the time period in human history that the Bible has warned about for centuries. While I have anticipated the rapture of those who love Jesus as Savior and Lord, and I have known since I was a young believer what the Bible says the world would look like at the end, I didn’t expect the things we’re seeing now. I don’t know how long it will be until we’re called home and the “man of lawlessness” Paul speaks about in 2 Thessalonians 2 is revealed.
So how are we to respond?
The Bible anticipates that question:
“If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
Psalm 11:3
We can focus on the TRUTH.
When Jesus was crucified, the enemy of our souls believed he and his forces won the battle. But they didn’t understand the plan of God, because God hid it from them. The cross was not a place of defeat, but of victory.
God was taking back this world.
As you read through Psalm 11, notice the very next line:
The LORD is in His holy Temple;
the LORD’s throne is in heaven;
His eyes behold,
His eyelids test the sons of men.”
God is in control. There’s no panic in Heaven, only God’s plans unfolding. He allowed the god of this world to tempt Jesus. Certainly, as the Son of God suffered on the cross, the hellish fallen angels and demons rejoiced. What they thought was their victory was their doom, just as the Lord foretold:
“They do not know, nor do they understand; they walk around in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, “You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High. Nevertheless, you will die like men, and fall like one of the princes.” Psalm 82:5-7
Now as we stand at the end of the age, we don’t have to be afraid. God is at work doing just what He’s said He would do, taking back this world. Every promise He has made to the church in the New Testament is faithful and true-and God is more than able to do just what He has said.
Listen to Jesus’ promise to His church:
“Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I will also keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.” Revelation 3:10
So, what should we do as we wait?
First, pick up the weapon Jesus told His disciples to use 7 times the night before He went to the cross-PRAY, ASK, Engage, asking the Holy Spirit to help you pray as you should. Be bold as a lion. We fight from the victory Jesus won for us. You may be the only one in the lives of your loved ones, friends and acquaintances who knows Jesus. Intercede for them.
Second, ask for opportunity to witness and follow the Holy Spirit’s leading as you do. The men of Issachar understood the times they were living in, and they knew what to do. As Jesus Christ’s ambassadors of reconciliation, we need to be at work representing His Kingdom, and sharing with others the hope we have in Jesus Christ for salvation.
Thirdly, obey the command Jesus gave to His disciples:
“But when you see these things begin to take place,
straighten up
and lift up your heads,
because your redemption is drawing near.”
Luke 21:28
The Psalm I started with, Psalm 11, ends this way:
“For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; the upright will behold His face.”
Ambassadors are called home before war is declared. The Lord details that event in the New Testament and hints of it in the Old. This is our “blessed hope.
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