Peter was surely a godly man, and through him the Holy Spirit shows us exactly what God says about how to face these last days. Peter is telling us very clearly, “Here is your most important preparation: Get your heart ready. If this matter isn’t dealt with, all other preparations are in vain. Stay on your knees. And above all else, practice unceasing mercy and love toward your brothers and sisters. Forgive and cover their sins.”
COVER THE SINS OF OTHERS
Right now, many Christians are in panic mode. People who have testified all their lives that God is their keeper are now scrambling in fear as the storm clouds gather over us. Peter has something very simple to say to them, “Bring all your natural feelings under the control of faith.”
Next, Peter tells us to bring everything to God in prayer: “Watch unto prayer” (1 Peter 4:7). Only by seeking the Lord will we be able to control our anxieties about the times. According to Peter, the blacker things become the more we should walk in the peace and rest of the Holy Spirit.
As Christians, we believe God’s Word about the times to come and we receive Spirit-directed warnings from God’s holy watchmen. Indeed, we see the handwriting on the wall.
An important question arises for many Christians today: “How do we prepare for the tumultuous events to come?”
SURVIVING FRIGHTFUL TIMES
I think it is normal to want to know how we’ll survive the frightful times to come. When the storm hits, destroying all roots of recovery, what will we do about jobs, housing, food, clothing?
God cannot answer prayer where there is no faith. And Satan will not flee where there is fear and unbelief. The fact is, we have failed to take our God-given authority over the devil and his demonic empire.
God’s Word tells us that the enemy is not in control. We have power over him!
“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
I wonder if the angels are baffled by all the worry and anxiousness of those who claim to trust in the Lord. To those celestial beings, it must seem insulting to God that we worry as if we had no caring Father in heaven.
What perplexing questions the angels must ask among themselves:
“Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek)” (Matthew 6:31-32).
Jesus is warning about the heathen tendency to worry, and His words touch my soul. He tells us that worry—over our job, our family, our survival—is a heathen’s way of living.
A BAD ATTITUDE
Worry is the attitude of those who have no heavenly Father. They do not know God as He desires to be known: as a caring, providing, loving Father in heaven.
We simply cannot explain why many righteous people face insurmountable sufferings. Why do the difficulties increase for those who love God deeply?
“It’s all meant to teach patience.”
“It teaches God’s people to trust Him more.”
Really? Are those actual reasons or nothing more than clichés? Certainly such statements are empty of meaning to those who are enduring critical crises.
During a recent time of great personal testing, I asked the Lord, “If there are lessons I need to know from this present trial, please teach me.”
Is there a point in our walk with God when we become so trusting, so proven faithful through years of testing, that we can expect a respite from spiritual warfare?
Is there ever a vacation from troubles, a time when we can relax free of trials? Does a lifetime of meeting faith’s demands earn us a furlough from the battle? Is it possible to reach a point in faith where a test is no longer necessary?
According to Scripture, the answer to all these questions is no.
King David was known as a man who fully trusted God. He declared the theme of his own life when he wrote:
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him” (Psalm 28:7).
These weren’t just words for David. Scripture records event after event in David’s life when he showed great faith in impossible situations.
GREAT EXPLOITS
David did great things through faith in God:
I want to offer a special word to all who have come through many floods and fiery furnaces of affliction. I believe it is possible that your time of testing has nothing to do with chastening. Rather, it is something eternal—something having to do with your life in the new world to come.
The battle you are enduring now is not about this world, not about the flesh, not about the devil. This warfare is preparation for your eternal service in glory. You are being prepared for service on the other side.
DIVINE PREPARATION