We are living in the last days, there can be no doubt about this. God tells us through the Apostle Paul in 2Timothy 3:1(NLT), “You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times.” Paul is telling us about the apostasy, a time in human history where most people will abandon the Word of God and totally turn their backs on Him. Indeed, we are witnessing this happen and have been for several years. We are seeing it at a pace that is shocking. Not only is this happening with the unbelieving world, but many Christians today are abandoning their faith in God as well. Our Heavenly Father is a God of love, and He has been very patient with us. Time and again, He’s given us multiple opportunities to come to Him, but even though we’ve endured extreme troubles and challenges, these hardships have not caused the masses to seek God for help. Rather than clinging to Him, people are frantically trying to cling to the way things used to be.
Things will never be the way they were, and that is a sobering reality that should cause people to wake up. It should open our eyes to the reality that we desperately need God’s mercy and grace, and because of His unfathomable goodness, He has saved us through Jesus Christ from the wages of sin, which is death. God is majestic, powerful, and holy beyond our imaginations, but we will not have the respect and reverence for who God is without understanding the great offense that sin is to His nature. Most people have ignored the wrong of their sin, and therefore, they have ignored the enormous gift that God has given us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This way of operating places them in danger, because in order to have the faith and strength required for what lies ahead, we must shift from a position of ignoring God’s love, grace, and power to one of being incredibly and deeply thankful for them.
Jesus Christ tells us a little bit about “The Rapture” in Matthew 24. There are so many books and varying beliefs about the rapture, and if your eyes are not focused on Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, your head may be spinning. Some have called the rapture fiction and a Christian racket. Others are cowering in fear because of truths in Revelation they don’t understand. Well, 2Timothy 1:7 tells us that God didn’t give us a spirit of fear. He’s given us a spirit of power, love, and sound mind. He’s proven to us throughout human history and throughout His Word that He protects those who remain close to Him. He also makes it very clear that whether we choose to remain in Him or follow society and other world systems is completely up to us. He will not force us to be obedient to His Word or to accept His love and blessings.
Every prophecy our Heavenly Father has spoken and that is written in His Word has come to pass. God tells us through the Apostle Paul in 2Timothy 3:1-5(ESV), “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.” Since sin reared its ugly head, the world has been rocky terrain, but today, the convergence of the enemy’s wicked and dark plots of disease, war, and other sinfulness is unparalleled to any other time. Adding even more to the incomparable darkness in our world today is the reality that humanity’s potential has grown tremendously. Our intellectual advancement is remarkable, but it has not outpaced our penchant for unthinkable evil. God has supplied all that we need to make this world into His vision of bliss, but instead, we’ve done the exact opposite. We have the capacity for both incredible compassion and irredeemable destruction. Sadly, the latter is on mass display in our current times.
Denial is the order of the day, and this is why we hear so much talk about getting back to normal. We’ve reached such a level of self-absorption that it hardly seems likely people will turn away from their cell phones, social media, and fleshy pleasures. We can’t even imagine what it would be like to spend more than an hour each day worshipping and praising God in the way that He requires.
Society wants God’s blessings, but they do not want to obey His Word. There will be judgment for this stance, and there will be justice for those that have followed Christ. Love, judgment, and justice are joined at the hip. All three of them go hand in hand. Any person that supports law and order, and understand the enormous importance of them, also understands that there are consequences for breaking the law.
When it comes to God’s law, His mercy and grace have been doled out on us in unfathomable quantity. But we continue to use His grace to go against His Word even more. So, we’re at a point where things are tight. Evil is at an unprecedented level, and most everyone is angry and unhappy. You can feel it in the atmosphere, and this intense undercurrent of angst and denial of God is showing up in our very day environments and circumstances. Nothing seems to work as it should, but the antidote is clear; we need to stay in God’s Word so that we learn to rest in Him even in times like these.
We can’t pray judgment away, but we can have faith and believe for God’s covering and blessing during these perilous times. We must also know that God’s eyes are upon us all the time. He wants us to have faith in Him, and faith requires us to back it with the right action. We can’t remain comfortable in sin and expect to increase our faith in God. It isn’t possible to deny the truth of His Word and be close to Him. Psalm 91:1(NLT) states, “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” To live in God’s shelter is to be close to Him, and to be close to Him, we must demonstrate honor and reverence for His Word and for all that He is.
Increasing our faith in God during hard times will require something about the way we are approaching life to change. We will have to release the thing in our lives that is causing us to be comfortable in sin, and we will have to put on another layer of the example of Christ so that our hearts and minds are more aligned with his. Without a shadow of doubt, it’s praying time. It’s time to pay attention to our relationship with God. It’s time to repent and begin to do the things that convey our love for Him.
Jesus Christ said in John 14:26(ESV), ”But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” God is in us through His Holy Spirit, and the Spirit will teach us if we read God’s Word and we are willing to learn. We desperately need to be transformed from the inside out, and this is the work of God’s indwelling Holy Spirit. Humble yourself before God and learn more about Him. He wants to cover and preserve us through His love, and if we continue to grow in our faith toward Him, we can be confident that God will give us the victory and come to our aid during hard times.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
“Having Faith During Hard Times”, for victoryinjesuschrist.life. Copyright© 2023. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
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